Making Linen from Flax

This '19th Century Daily Living Series' video demonstrates the tools, techniques and processes for making linen from flax.

• Category

  Education

[burt4041]

Hi Nancy;

You are welcome to use this footage anyway you like. Just give credit to Historyworks, Inc. and the Clark County Historical Society, Springfield, Ohio.

You can add any music you like. No sounds of the loom or wheel are available. Send the result to Historyworks@comcast.net. Thanks, Burt Kummerow

[Nancy Turner]

Wonderful video. I am looking for footage to make a short video as a trailer for my new novel. There are a couple of 10-12 second seconds of your vid from 2:40 to 4:40 I would love to incorporate. Any chance you are interested in sharing/selling a section? One thing is, it would be best to have without the music background so I could add my own. Also, I'd love to hear the spinning wheel and the loom working. Nancy E. Turner, nancyeturner1@yahoo.com. Thanks for your consideration.

[VillageTwittiot]

Very interesting and informative. The amount of work involved is astounding. And most people don't give a solitary thought to where their clothes come from when they put them on in the morning. Or food they eat for that matter. The worm will turn. You can't have 7 billion people on a planet, most of whom cannot even eat unless someone else grows, processes, and in some cases, cooks and serves it to them. Great vid.

[Eyespychica]

That was soooo very awesome!!!!

[CaNa4567]

Wow, interesting....

[YasuTaniina]

Cotton isn't very elastic ether; and yarn is made from wool, not cotton. I've been spinning since I was a little girl.

[piranha4D]

no, very different as one might expect from the fibre that goes into the yarn. flax fibre is long, cotton fibre is short. linen is therefore more lustrous, but also stiffer, especially new cloth. it needs to be washed quite a bit to get soft. on the other hand, it lasts much longer, won't pill, and won't sag because it is less elastic than cotton. it is also stronger, especially when wet. it is cooler to wear. but it wrinkles very easily.

[Hem Padia]

Does linen have the same touch and feel as cotton?

[xLaurenVictoria]

I work at a museum and I'm giving a tour featuring PA German textiles. This video was extremely helpful for me. As much as I read about the flax to linen process, it wasn't completely clear until I watched this. Thanks!

[formerevolutionist]

This is a great video! I used it in class to show my student how linen is made in colonial times.