From flax to linen, part 1

Planting, harvesting, drying, and retting 🌾

I first heard about the Fibershed 4 years ago. That’s when I learned that linen is made from flax. Flax! I couldn’t believe it.

At the time of this discovery, I was living in a city apartment with no outdoor space, so I wasn’t able to put my learnings to the test. But one year later, my husband and I moved to the country, and I immediately sowed my seeds.

Spoiler alert: I’m on year 3 of growing… and I still don’t have linen.

Here’s a recap

Year 1: I planted too close to the treeline (in April), and by the time the leaves grew in, the spot was too shady for my flax to thrive. Rookie mistake.

Year 2: Great yield! Dried it, retted it, over-retted it.

Year 3: Great yield! I’m currently retting it (fingers crossed).

2024: From blooms in June to retting in October.

I planted a 5x5’ plot.

A seasoned grower at a flax processing event told me that 10x10’ of crop should yield 100lbs of wet harvest, which equals 2lbs of thread, which can be used to craft one shirt.

Unfortunately, I don’t think my wet harvest weighed 50lbs… so I guess I won’t even be getting half a shirt when all is said and done. But that’s ok. I think I’m going to crochet with the thread instead of weave it anyway.

Once the flax is retted, I’ll dry it again, break it, scutch it, and hackle it (I’m serious) until it looks like a lustrous blonde wig. Then, it will need to be spun and, ultimately, crocheted.

Different flax processing events over the years.