Flax - Linen

Natural flax is a plant fibre from Linum usitatisimum. It has a natural sheen and is long, strong and golden in colour. Also known as linen, it is derived from the flax or linseed plant. You will need to spin it with water and some spinning wheel will have a little bowl to the left for this. It must therefore be dressed onto a distaff before use.

The earliest evidence of use of flax as a textile is 30,000 years ago in the Republic of Georgia. Linen has been used world wide since then for clothing and only declined in importance in the 19th century when cotton took over. From the earliest times in this country, linen has provided a soft and absorbent layer next to the skin. It was the washable layer between your skin and your woollen clothing for hundreds of years with the finest and whitest linen showing your status in society.