Fiber Friday - Linen

I played hooky from my studio for a bit this afternoon to walk through my flower beds. Next to clothing and textiles, my biggest passion would be my roses. Being a bit of a geek, of course I don't just grow them, I collect them. I especially enjoy 'antique' roses.

So that started me thinking about plant fibers. I haven't really discussed cellulosic fibers yet, so it makes some sense to start with what is likely the oldest plant used to make textiles: Flax. The fabric woven from flax is called linen. According to my Textile Science textbook, remnants of linen were found amoung the remains of the Swiss Lake Dwellers, who lived in 8000 B.C. Linen curtains, still intact, were found in Tutankhamen's tomb (1200 B.C.).

As you might guess from the above, linen is tough stuff. Even its processing is a tough process. Flax is a tall plant grown both for the seeds (this is where linseed oil comes from) and the stem (fiber). When the flax plant is fully grown and sets seed it is harvested, often by pulled up by the roots to preserve the full length of the stalk. Once the seeds are combed away, the stalks may be processed for fiber.

The first step in flax fiber processing is called 'retting'. This is literally a rotting process to break down the bark and woody matter. This is done by either allowing the flax to lie in the fields for several weeks (called 'dew retting') or by placing the stems in heated, water-filled tanks for three days. Dew retting produces darker fiber, but with longer length.

Next the fiber must be 'scutched'. Scutching breaks away the rotted bark and woody matter, leaving coarse bundles of fibers ready to be hackled. Hackling means pulling the bundles through a series of progressively finer pins in order to separate the fibers into a finer bundle. Once the fibers are combed and aligned parallel through this process, they are ready to be spun and woven into linen cloth.

As with many aspects of textile making, there are some terms which have become part of common usage that have derived from flax processing. Two most common terms relate to hair color. People with blond hair are sometimes referred to as 'flaxen', in reference to the pale color. Similarly, a 'tow-head' refers to the 'tow' or pale, tangled fibers left in the last set of hackles when processing flax.