Best Quality & Most Beautiful Hemp Fabrics for Slipcovers

Hemp is my favorite natural fiber for home textile items. It’s versatile, comfortable and beautiful. I’ve been using hemp fabrics for years to make my kitchen towels, napkins, roman shades, curtains, pillow covers, bedding and slipcovers.

Good quality hemp canvas, twill and herringbone have a similar look and feel to linen but I’ve found hemp has more character, and it’s stronger, which makes it long wearing. It also has less give than linen.

As far as undyed colors go, you can’t beat hemp’s natural hues ranging from semi-bleached creamy white to oatmeal and dark taupe.

Recently, I tested a few hemp fabrics that are ideal for washable slipcovers. If you like the look of a casual linen slipcover but want more durability, I think you will love these options. Let’s take a look.

First up is this 11 oz. hemp canvas (above). It’s tightly woven with finer yarns than the more common rustic hemp canvas.

The strong, tight weave doesn’t mean this fabric is stiff. Like linen, the crisp hand-feel softens beautifully with machine wash and dry, giving the fabric a supple drape. It will continue to get softer overtime with wear and wash.

I love the undyed natural taupe color. It’s the perfect shade of oatmeal. FYI – this color can vary from one hemp fabric to another depending on the region where the fiber is grown and harvested.

This hemp cloth is perfect in every way for washable slipcovers that get frequent use.

Kelly, owner of Covered, made this wonderful hemp canvas slipcover (above). I don’t know which fabric she used, but the results give you a good idea of how most hemp fabrics look after washed and dried. So pretty!

Next is this 11 oz. hemp canvas in color natural, which is actually a lovely soft white.

It’s the same supple heavyweight as the undyed taupe hemp canvas. The thick and thin yarns create an imperfectly beautiful texture. I’ve used it several times with excellent results.

It worked great for slipcovering a pair of vintage chairs (below). The white color covered the dark green velvet just fine. It also has a very nice drape and body, perfect for giving the box pleat skirt soft folds and fullness.  

I was also happy to find this gorgeous 12 oz. hemp twill. Yes, a twill! It’s got the look of bull denim and the softness of linen. Chunky twill lines and slubby yarns give this cloth a ton of character.

Notice the creamy white color? It’s achieved by “bleaching” the natural taupe hemp with hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine.

Hemp fabric gets more beautiful and softer with machine wash and dry. Follow my preshrink instructions for the best results. Read my hemp fabric reviews here to find out how much each one shrinks.

Thanks everyone for following my blog! Until next time. — Karen