@valerieprice1745 yes I got two cheap dog brushes online for 3 euro each with wooden handles as my carding brushies. Instead of 60 dollars ..they look exactly the same and still working 6 years after.
Growing your own flax - okay. Making fiber from it - okay. Spinning yarn - okay. Not that I would be able to do any of this myself, it seemed complicated as hell, but it did not seem magical. But when you set down to WEAVING. . . Oh my God! My grandmother had a big carpet loom and made rugs and carpets. I always thought it was some kind of sorcery. And you just take out a loom. . . "I've got a loom somewhere." Boom! One loom, coming up. "Oh, and I've learned how to weave the other day," you said matter-of-factly. "This is how you make your pattern," you said like it was nothing at all. And you proceeded to actually weaving. I'm like: "WHA'? . ." I don't know how to express my admiration of your dedication, skill and perseverance. Hats off. Long live perfectionists!
40:53 I didn’t question your motives at all when diving right in. I think I do that too. But in a weird way it’s almost like when you jump into the deep end you learn a lot more and faster. And then when you do something that’s maybe more beginner or even intermediate level it feels less daunting. Like you’ve already conquered the last steps,ya know. I appreciate your leap! It makes things that seemed so impossible; very do-able now. Thank you!!Don’t doubt yourself girlie. 😊
their are many things that make you wonder about the first person to do the thing, I dare you to really think about dairy products, or black eggs, etc...lol history is both strange and more than a bit terrifying
Yes, there are loads of things with complex processes which always make me wonder 'how on earth did they think of that? What made them put A together with B then do C and come out with something completely different?'
When you have nothing but time and trial and error you can do a host of things, we are kind of relying on technology and arent learning to experiment any more really
Also, seeing the process, it's very likely they just came about it accidentally and slowly improved upon the method overtime! When I was younger I would play with dried plants by breaking them apart and looking at their fibers, I'm sure when there was far less to do more people did the same. Possibly plants they had near water sources dried out out and whent through the process completely naturally and when someone notice the long fibers they might have believed they had a use I highly doubt they went into the process trying to find a way to make cloths, they probably found the fibers first and its uses later maybe starting as a type of rope
There was no TV/newspapers/no social media, people had time and patience to try and savour and enjoy things. Also, there weren't many things around, so they had to be creative and also different, so they could sell novelties. @@catwoman7462
You need to store your saved seeds in paper not plastic bags. Plastic will cause the seeds to sweat and then rot. They need to be kept cool and dry. Also paper envelopes are good for storage too. Then you can write on the envelope what type of seeds they are. Good luck .
Thank you so much. I have always wondered how the women of old went through the process of making their cloth from the ground up. Thanks for creating this educational presentation for all who are interested.
That’s not entirely true… If they are “sweating” and rotting, they are too wet and are also likely to sprout. It might be good to store them in paper at first when you are storing your own seed (I do) but if you buy seed and it is in plastic, it better be good as it is…. Also, storing them in paper can invite humidity or even spillage if you have a water accident near your seeds. I store my seeds inside their paper packages inside a ziplock plastic freezer bag. I’m a “big” gardener from multigenerational gardener family in an agricultural area.
Probably wasn’t your intent with this video, but I did shed a tear seeing the weaving come together into a textile. This is the first video of your’s I’ve watched. I’ve crocheted for 10 years, knit for 4, and I just love watching others do advanced fiber techniques. I aspire to have more space to try weaving someday. I think it was your care and dedication (from a fellow perfectionist) to this endeavor that moved me! Beautiful work, thank you!
Two techniques for weaving that take very little space: first is the inkle loom. It allows you to make woven fabric about the width of a very wide belt, which you can then sew together to make larger textiles. The other can be as broad as you can manage it, which starts at the width of a narrow strip of inkle loom fabric, and extends to widths I, a beginner weaver, probably can't imagine. It's called a backstrap loom. Neither of them takes much space to use: the inkle just a bit larger than a place at dinner, the backstrap about as much as you'd need to do yoga. The inkle in storage the same size, the backstrap a rolled yoga mat.
Not sure if someone else has mentioned this yet, but something I learned about anything that flowers: The presence of flowers is highly likely attached to the amount of daylight hours the plants receive during the growing process. By planting so late, you gave the plants shorter and shorter hours, and it wasn't until the number of daylight hours started to increase that you were able to get flowers to form. Hope that helps you going forward. This (delay in blooming) will also happen if there are too many hours of daylight, FYI.
@@popejaimieI learned a ton about plants in general due to learning how to grow the same said greenery. LOL. And yes, it applies to the majority of flowering plants (i.e tomatoes, squash, etc.), which I figured out when I attempted to grow some roma tomatoes in my grow room. They would not flower until I changed my light schedule.
@@dazey8706 I don't grow veggies indoors, but if they compare to the plants I do grow indoors, 12 hours on, 12 hours off is the schedule used to induce flowering. Vegetative state (growth only, no flowering) is done using anything over 18 hours on, with a lot of growers choosing to just do full (24 hours) light for vegetative, then once the plants are at the height they want, switching to the 12-12 schedule. Keep in mind that the plants will still do a little vegetative growth for up to 2 weeks after the switch. Hope that helps.
I am a spinner and pretty good at it. When I went from short staples like cotton and merino wool to flax, it was a challenge for me. That staple length gets me every time, it takes me a bit to warm up to it and you are exactly right keeping that distance to draft the flax properly. I use a damp towel and lay over my flax a bit before spinning and keep a wet cloth in a bowl to wipe my fingers on. A bowl of water didn’t work out so well with the fur kids 🤣 The roving splits because of how the machines process it, strip it down, it won’t hurt it at all. I spin across the top but not when I first started. Eventually you will be able to spin across the top too, your thumb is what controls where the fiber drafts from. Practice turning your thumb with a light grip and watch the draft move across. Look up drafting from across the top. I have flax seeds to plant, wish me luck. Great video, I really enjoyed it.
Now fully realizing how labour intensive making fabrics and thread is, I also realized how much of a jerk Aurora’s dad was in Sleeping Beauty. Burning all the spinning wheels in the land so the Princess won’t accidentally prick her finger? That is such an out-of-touch billionaire move. All those poor women having their tools destroyed.
@@simplyixia3683 i can get with that. Hard to separate the two groups, or even see any lines of distinction anymore. May as well just call them one group, cronyism
Yeah, I've been working on a fleece rug for about a year and a half now, and I'm only just getting to the carding process (I need to save for a carding drum). I've also spun yarn (drop spindle) and woven fabric. I'm hoping to one day start my own fibre farm (alpaca, sheep, and cotton) and get a large loom to make my own clothes
He also set up his country's textile economy by decades after that move. And had to rely on imported clothes since then, wasting most of the royal trezory on buying clothing.
There was an Area in Germany was called "das blaue Ländchen" (the blue little country in English), because the people there where growing flax and when the flax bloomed, all of this area had a blue hue or shimmer of all the blue Flowers. Just a random fact, but in my opinion it represents how important Flax was.
Funny, I was at the fabric store today, just browsing. I was particularly drawn to the linens, and was researching what project I might want to tackle. Came across this video, and thought, "yeah, how the heck DO they turn the worlds most useful weed into fabric." So I clicked on this video, thinking no way was I going to spend an hour watching. Just wow, what an effort. This was so enlightening, and you were an absolute trooper. Also, I will never complain about spending $20 for a yard of linen fabric, now that I know what all the steps involved are. Freaking amazing.
@@ghostratsarahThe farmers aren't growing finished bolts of linen... if you buy the linen and make a dress that sells for $100 you don't send that money back to the fabric store to give to the supplier to give to the weaver to give to the spinner to give to the farmer who grew the flax
You can also get old/antique linen fyi. There are stores that sell it. Theres some thats from 1890s, all hand made. I think thats especially cool to use something like that on a project
This showed up on my feed randomly. I was looking for something calming to help me sleep, but I’m so invested that I will be watching until the end, or coming back in the morning if I fall asleep! Totally fascinating.
They are very expensive in my country...a prized fabric. I suppose linen managed to keep its price relatively "affordable" since more people grow/make it.
I'm mere minutes into the video and I just needed to say how much I admire your content and this project specifically! This hits such a niche of long form content that I absolutely adore and adds fiber arts, so all around 10/10! 🎉🎉🎉
"You might be asking why I'm jumping ahead..." as someone with sudden hyperfixations, ADHD, and paralyzing perfectionism, I was not wondering that at all because I do the exact same thing lol even if you failed at every step, this is incredibly commendable and encouraging. Like you are badass for this fr.
Just fantastic. Can you imagine how much more we’d care for and conserve our clothing and other textiles if this was the process we undertook to have them?! Well … you likely CAN imagine now lol. No wonder every last bit of fabrics were repurposed as much and as often as possible. Also …. My goodness I am really curious now about how much skill and what all was entailed in producing the fine and delicate fabrics …. Very inspiring. ❤
I'm fed up that our current world is hyper focused on productivity and efficiency. Why not take your time and appreciate the journey of making things? I know it goes against capitalism and conservatism to go back to your roots and slow down, but I don't care. Modern conservatism is a fashion trend that will die and be forgotten soon. But these crafts and traditions will never die. 🌈
@@robertschnobert9090 It goes against conservatisim to go back to your roots? It is the progressive ideal that has pushed us towards efficiency and productivity. The consumerist culture values using the cheapest materials for the least ammount of work. I would call myself a moderate conservative, what you are conflating with conservatism is that "conservatism" is conserving the culture. The problem now is that the culture is peogressive so the neocons are technically conserving progressive culture. I want to look to the times before the industrial revolution, to conserve the environment, to conserve a prior, pre-christian moral philosophy, to conserve the world we live in.
Since you speak a little german, I think you might enjoy the series "Bäuerliche Flachskultur" on the channel "Alltagskulturen im Rheinland". It was shot in the 1970's and shows the whole process of growing and processing flax very authenticly to how the people of the region have done it for centuries. I learned a lot from it and it is a super interesting watch! Since it's fairly visual, it could probably still be interesting to someone who speaks very little or even no german at all.
Thank you. I looked it up and will watch it (no German, but I can understand pictures!) A while ago I watched and bookmarked a video I enjoyed about the traditional process of making Irish linen. Also very interesting! ruclips.net/video/tqntI3Ec8Ew/видео.html
I can’t imagine how sentimental that textile must be to you 🥺 Who knows, maybe one day you’ll be spinning the finest linen we’ve seen in a long time but even if you never spun again you’d always have these memories 🥰 Also this video flew by in the best way, I totally misread the time and thought it was a 10 minute video. I didn’t even realise it was going longer, let alone an hour long, until I saw the timestamp at the end! Something about watching you learn and complete the different steps of this process was so immersive
I worked for a number of years for a rural working museum and learned about this process. After the flax was properly dried out we would go thru the process of getting to making the flax. I then learned how to spin it to make the strand so we could dress out a loom and weave our own linen. I can attest, it is quite a process!. I weave, spin, hook rugs, do punch needle, sew. It seems anything textile interests me very much. Thank you for your video.
I am in the fifth year of my own flax to linen project. I have a blog on wordpress ('Growing my own garb') documenting it - we are still getting to the point of spinning the fibre. I live in NZ, and importing seeds for linen varieties is difficult - so the fibre quality from my older landrace seeds is a bit variable. I find that early lodging is OK - the plants will right themselves until they get too tall. I think they didn't flower for a long time because the conditions weren't right - maybe day length, even though it was warm enough for them to grow. Mine (on my windy & rainy, hilly, coastal conditions) often takes longer than a friend in Canada needs for hers - conditions make such a difference for all aspects. My retting often takes about 10 days (it's not hot enough for the water temps to stay consistently warm enough). I've found skinnier stems are harder to break/give less fibre than thicker stems - so I've endeavoured not to sow too thickly.
I’m also from NZ and have been really interested in making my own textiles. Id love to know if you’ve ever tried making linen from harakeke/ NZ flax. I know they’re two completely plants and Māori traditionally didnt use a loom to create fabrics, but I’d love to know if harakeke can be made into a delicate fabric? Māori didn’t typically need fabrics to be delicate and soft as the purpose of Muka capes was to act as ceremonial garb or as rain jackets. Even so I’d love to know if anyone else from NZ has tried
I am not finished with the video yet, but I just wanted to say that everyone's first yarn looks like that. If you keep spinning there will come a day when that kind of thick and thin yarn is very difficult to make. So just enjoy your early work as fun novelty or art yarns.
Have you ever watched videos by Sally Pointer? It’s fascinating to see her make fibers from stinging nettle and other plants. She does a lot of work with hands on experimental archeology.
Congratulations on your first seed to cloth project. From what I've read and videos I've seen, I think linen might be the most difficult fiber to process. My hat is off to you!
Not sure if you'll find this interesting or not, but I noticed you have a dog with a double coat. When you brush them, you can save and wash that fluffy undercoat and spin yarn out of that as well. Had a friend that used to do that. Even if you do it just for the practice, its a free source of "wool"
I'm that crazy cat person who keeps the undercoat fibers from their cats in hopes that one day I might have an incredibly soft, partially cat-based textile.
The series was so fun to follow along but by bit, but this compilation in a single video is such a valuable resource for future flax-to-linen-ers! 🙌 Thank you for sharing!
I grew a small patch of flax last year. I processed it by using an old pair of ridged butter pat paddles....yeah... painstakingly slooowww! Cracking the stems one at a time 😱! But...i made flax strands! Oh the joy and sense of pride. I am to weave a square of my own linen 👏👏
OMG! I'm not the only one to grow my own flax & try to process it with ridged butter pats 😂! I live in Wales, UK. Last summer, I sat in the garden & 'sawed away ' with my butter pats. I was so thrilled to make at least a cm thickness of a bunch of linen strands 👏👏! I've still got more to 'process' tho. I plan to weave it...even if I just make a coaster, lol 😂 😂
I'm honestly shocked that I managed to sit through this whole video because I've AuADHD and that tends to make me, well, bore easily. But your voice is so soothing and you keep your videos interesting and it makes me want to start making my own linen haha
You're speaking to my soul. I come from the vegetable gardening/homesteading side and feel so satisfied to eat a whole meal from my own garden that i seeded myself. The next challenge for me is to create a textile from seed to finish. Thanks for sharing your journey! ❤
Amazing! Man I can’t help but think I’d much rather being doing activities like this all day along with some women friends and family rather than sitting behind a computer
Even though I watched all the individual videos, I really enjoyed this compilation. Many people I watch on YT aren't posting much over this week, so I appreciate the content and the extra editing!
Now that I have come to the end of this video I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster! 😆I have been a knitter for many years and have thought about diving into things like spinning, dyeing and producing my own fiber so the title of the video grabbed my attention. There were many moments I thought you were a little crazy for taking this project on but when I saw the finished product I was so happy for you!! WELL DONE! And thanks for bringing us along!
It's very interesting to watch your experiments. And to know that on the other side of the Earth there is a person who is also interested in trying to make clothes from scratch. A few years ago I also made a similar trip, but instead of flax I used wild nettles. I collected it in the forest in winter (because by winter the weather does most of the fiber decomposition; the stems were well dried), and from a huge armful I got 50 grams of fiber. however, it was an interesting experience. I wish you good luck and prosperity to your channel!
This is soooo cool! I was starting to think about this, because I am so tired of low quality clothes. Granted, I haven't even learned to sew, just listening to this ❤️ Thank you for sharing!
Fascinating video. I once grew a small corner of flax in the herb garden of my allotment (UK word for community garden) just to see how it grew for seed, which was an interest of mine at the time. I got the feeling that this crop needed space and I would need acres of the stuff to do anything with. I love your video, your dedication but also a clear demonstration of my point. It is the most beautiful plant. Many a community must have relied on it. And my goodness, how precious the cloth must have been that was finally made from the fibres. Well done!
It never gets old to see your plants doing well and starting to bloom! Always so exciting! I love to wear linen fabric and your video makes one appreciate how much work goes into producing linen fabric. Thanks so much for walking us through the process! Very cool!
I love how you explain how difficult it all is. I inherited a lot of linen that my greatgrandmother spun and wove. Makes you appreciate the fabric so much more! Also the fact that it's 100 year old fabric and it looks brand new. Probably the highest quality most ethical fabric I will ever get my hands on
You could try adding cane/dowels when growing the flax. Might help keeping it up. Also pre drafting the fibre before spinning, will help massively, less bulk to pull from. The spinning wheel is difficult at the beginning, simply practice treadling without any fibre clockwise and anticlockwise
I am an herbalist who was gifted with 3 areas of flax that volunteered this year! 2 areas were within my black raspberries and the 3rd were interspersed amongst my Vervain Officianalis (which had volunteered last year!). With a lot of vigilance, I was able to use the berry canes and the Vervain plants as supports for a sizable amount of the flax! I have to say that taking growing space and soil nutrients from my precious Vervain made me a bit nervous, but it worked out well for both of them! The flax was harvested and hung to dry because summer & fall are just not times of the year that a working herbalist can spare for a non medicinal project! This video popped up today (and I hadn't searched it before!)-I'm sure as a reminder to this tired old gal that it's time to work on a new project! I'm hoping that the length of time between harvest and now beginning processing hasn't ruined it. If it has, I've learned a lesson...ans will move on to working on making cordage from blackberry brambles and wreaths the wild grapevines that are also now dry. Never a moment's rest when you HAVE to grow, harvest, and create! 😁💓🌿🎋
@ that’s great that you’re getting back out there and exploring what’s available to you, did you mean to reply to my comment on the video. I’m not entirely sure what your comment has to do with mine.
Cool process to watch! I have the same perfectionist issues. In the past I haven’t done many things I would have liked to because I worried it wouldn’t be right. I am learning it’s ok to fail and that in the failing is where we learn. Thank you for keeping it real! Truly appreciate that.
I am a "recovering" perfectionist. I came across an idea to focus on perfecting the process and not so much on the perfect outcome or end product. This shift in mindset has really helped me. Hopefully, it will help others, too. 🙂
Ohhhh this will be good! I grew a little flax last summer, but I didn't get the fibres to break down right, so I couldn't continue the process. Excited to try again!
Oh, i cried when you've made your final piece and put her on display! Such hard work, dedication... respect for the process! Thank you for sharing this moments with us
I understand the rush to get through the project once. I do the same thing. I call it a practice run. It gives me a better idea of the whole process and I can refine it in my mind the next time.😊
i have no idea about knitting nor about flax i dont know why youtube algorithm recommended the video to me but my goodness the vibes and the wholesomeness of this video charmed me and watched the entire video lol, subbed and thank you for the lovely content cheers 🥰
Overall so interesting! I love linen clothing; and you have helped me to love it all the more! I also appreciate how you told us of the drawbacks and problems you had (especially early on in growing and first steps of preparing the fibers). And so I love your perseverance through all of it. Your final wall hanging, with that one beautiful stripe of dyed seed-to-linen fabric, is so beautiful and meaningful. Thank you!
I have the same wheel! I’ve been afraid to spin flax. I’ve spun a lot of wool and even some bamboo. You have inspired me to branch out! Also heartily also recommend Evie’s channel!
I have a small remaining piece of a linen bed coverlet that my great-great-grandmother (Pennsylvania Dutch) made from seed to fabric (including making the dyes). Thank you for showing the process.
Bravo! As a longtime spinner I am gobsmacked by what you accomplished!! Flax is difficult for seasoned spinners and to learn that entire process and then to dye and weave it - wow!! It will make you look at cloth in a whole new way. You gave yourself a masters degree in fabric and I applaud you! My only thought is that you might prefer a castle wheel as opposed to a saxony if you are used to a treadle sewing machine. Try one if you can and see which you prefer. On my bucket list is processing raw fleece, dyeing, spinning and knitting a Niebling shawl. It’s only taken about 12 years of practice and two years of effort but I’m finishing the spinning now and the knitting will be a piece of cake. Next up is a wool vest from woven goods on a loom that I saved from the landfill. Hopefully I can learn old school tailoring on that project. Good wishes for your next projects!
Awesome video! I think its really cool how you show when in your process you run up against challenges or questions and return to sources whether other videos or books! really shows the collaborative nature of learning a new skill! i wish more maker content creators would do that as it makes learning a skill seem more approachable, and points people to useful resources!
Flax is a very universal and resilient plant. I live in a small village in Germany and 400 years ago every family made their clothes their own flax. Below the village there are still traces of the fax rot area. Linen clothes are very good and the seeds have great nutrients for both humans and livestock like chicken.
Your determination in the face of unexpected hurdles is really inspiring. This is usually how I do a big new project: with a bunch of research, a ton of enthusiasm, and kind of sort of a plan :) Thank you for the video!
29:50 this is exactly what i’m doing with this video! right now i’m making a memory quilt out of my old high school band shirts, and after watching a tutorial, i picked out this video to listen to!
I'm impressed with your passion for this project and that you've just jumped in and are doing it rather then allowing things not being just right or not having experience in something hold you back. Fantastic seeing all of the research and hours that you've put in and you're process. Very inspiring
I really like this content which describes making thread or rope from natural materials and renewable dyes. Hopefully lots of content will be created to create crafts whose materials can be updated.
What timing, I’m listening to “20,000 Years…” now and thought this would be a fun cross-watch - what a hoot that it was one of your references during the process! I’m tempted to hunt down a copy of the full thesis as well! Thank you for taking on this challenge and documenting/sharing it - a total joy to a fiber/maker/history/process junkie like me! 🤣🥳
Does it say what the title/author of the thesis is anywhere? I've been searching for a few minutes. I didn't see anything here so I'll try my hand at trying to Google it! I'm also interested in that thesis, haha. 😂
Thank you for this fascinating video! I doubt that I will ever do anything similar, but I love the way you tackled each skill. I even identify with your comments about being a perfectionist, and will take your "dive right in" approach to heart. And if you can manage all that gear in an apartment, I definitely have room in my little house!
There always must be smeone who is brave enough to start things (perfectionist or not) to find out how it works. And also today, when old techniques gettig lost, we need someone like her to get into this fascinating process again. So, I'm really thankfull to be able to watch this.
Loved your comments regarding Spinnstube and your heartfelt connections to generations of spinners as you worked with your own flax to linen process. Thank you for this video. -Sally from MO
Excellent work! Your determination and will to experiment is incredible. Here's a few notes if you want to spin flax again: When you spin commercially prepared flax, I find it difficult to spin the sliver on a distaff; I only use a distaff with long line fibers I get from flax stricks. I typically spin it as is without carding it into rolags, but that's just a personal preference! You don't need to completely dry the flax to test how the retting is going. You can just scrape it or rub it against itself to check if the vegetable matter sloughs off easily or not. It makes for a bit more efficient process! A cheaper option for a coarse flax hackle is a wig hackle. The process is exactly the same; it straightens and untangles the fibers. Also, try hackling from the very end of your flax to the part that you're holding in your hand. I hope these little tips are helpful!
Just like the evolution of the eye, I'm sure it was in steps. At first people probably just manually threaded physical vines and straw together to form rough fabrics, which isn't that complex and simply takes a few hours of sitting and fiddling around with plants to discover. Then they realized they can make fabric with less holes in it by ripping down whole stems into finer threads, and identified plants which can do this efficiently and yield good fibres. Then all the beating out of undesirable materials, hand-assemblage of rough yarn, and eventually the invention of the spinning wheel, etc. came later.
i mean, when I was in summer camp instead of listening to the bible lesson I would pull up the leafy weeds around me where I sat because I'd learned the plants had strong fibrous lines in the stem and I liked to pull them out and see how long and continuous I could get them. I imagine if you grew up surrounded by flax fields and with no books or video games you'd probably dick around with plants and figure out that there's this long, strong fiber inside this one plant's stem and wonder what you can do with it.
This is the first of your videos I've watched, but it was super inspiring. I have a lifetime aspiration (if we are pretending I'm a Sim) to make a piece of clothing having done every step of the process myself. I'll probably do wool or cotton though but that's mostly because I'm not a big fan of linen clothing and also because I really want a pet alpaca or goat or sheep. But this made me feel so much more inspired that it's actually possible.
From bottle-fed orphan lamb to finished woollen garment is also a wild ride of skills. But if you do get a lamb or goat or alpaca, please get at least two, because they are herd animals and get lonely and very scared and stressed if they're by themselves. On the upside, you can get one of each and they will form a herd even though they're all different species.
@@tealkerberus748 I'm not getting them anytime soon, but good to know that they herd with each other. I didn't know that! I plan on doing a lot more research before purchasing any animals, but fortunately, my dad grew up on a farm (though they raised beef cattle primarily) and has some friends who have raised alpaca and sheep for wool.
I had No intention of watching this whole video ! Lately I have been curious about this, so when I came across this vid I decided to skim through it. I can't Believe I Watched the Whole thing ! You are a terrific speaker, very calming, very thorough, without too many details and most of all You Did not Keep Repeating self! so EXCELLENT ! ! ! ! ! THANKS ! ! ! !
I absolutely loved your journey & success! I'm an herbalist who was gifted with 3 areas of flax that volunteered this year! 2 areas were within my black raspberries and the 3rd were interspersed amongst my Vervain Officianalis (which had volunteered last year!). With a lot of vigilance, I was able to use the berry canes and the Vervain plants as supports for a sizable amount of the flax! I have to say that taking growing space and soil nutrients from my precious Vervain made me a bit nervous, but it worked out well for both of them! The flax was harvested and hung to dry because summer & fall are just not times of the year that a working herbalist can spare for a non medicinal project! This video popped up today (and I hadn't searched it before!)-I'm sure as a reminder to this tired old gal that it's time to work on a new project! I'm hoping that the length of time between harvest and now beginning to process hasn't ruined it. If it has, I've learned a lesson...and will move on to working on making cordage from blackberry brambles and wreaths from the wild grapevines that are also now both dry. Never a moment's rest when you HAVE to grow, harvest, and create! 😁💓🌿🎋
Your channel really stands out, I love your authenticity and openness to learning and figuring stuff out! I learn a lot, thanks so much. Happy 2024! 🎉 While watching, I kept noticing how grateful I am that we live now, when we can choose whether and when to go back to the basics. Imagine the earliest days when people figured all this out without any guides-and large necessity! 😮 Your nickname: MacGyver!! And your final tapestry, gorgeous, very special. You’re extremely capable; I’d want you on the desert island! 😂😂
Wow, I'm so impressed with your perseverance on this project. I also appreciate that you show the whole process, including the attempts that didn't succeed. So many videos on here make projects seem way easier than they are, leading to disappointment and frustration when people try to repeat them.
At 29:37 I am screaming yes, yes yes draft it thinner than you think girl yesssss yess!! Lol 😂❤ so satisfying to see someone else getting the hang if spinning. It has been my winter boredom buster for the last few years. I will say making my own rollags (I just lightly lay out enough for one then use a thick even marker, in my case a highlighter, to make the roll) makes keeping the yarn a consistent thickness waaaaaay easier than working directly from the braid like you did here. Still came out beautiful and I love seeing someone else that's like "hmm what if I tried this thing I read" doing the process. It makes me so happy ❤
I looooove youuu!!! Seriously thanks for the whole project and also for the effort of sharing it ❤. To know there is is Simeone so stubborn and dedicar and living of the procesos of making things is so healing and also a celebration for me . Thaaaanks so so much
I may be late to suggest an idea or two: when growing anything in a new area/zone its good to know and attempt to emulate the right lighting condition from early growth to bloom. Getting lights at specific ranges of ‘k’ is important to emulate spring/summer and fall lighting. This will significantly improve your growing process. Also, hang your lights directly above the plants at a short of safe height so the plants dont stretch. As they grow increase height of lamps. These two suggestions can help tremendously.
I enjoy watching videos like yours on handmade fibers because I'm a knitter and I crochet. In one my of many hours looking for info, I stumbled in documentaries from the 40s-70s and I found a wonderful one called "Spinning Flax (1940-1949)". I love listening to the 40s British accent. It's a Linen Factory setting but they explain all the steps in a fascinating way. There is also one called "Hands: Wool Spinning" from Ireland documenting from Sheep to Sweater in a small village.
Nah you’re doing it exactly right. Starting with wool would just be procrastinating. So excited for you having gone on this journey and definitely impressive results!!
Wow. Not only a beautiful end result of what you crafted. But what an incredibly well-filmed and put-together video! For this being your first time doing this, the educational value on this is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing this with us! And for gifting new ideas for the bucket list. It was inspiring to watch. It looked like so much fun to make.
Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! Bravo!!! I LOVE THIS AND SM SO AMAZED! 🎉 Uour tapestry weaving is absolutely precious and I hope it's cherished for generations. Maybe write a little poem and frame it next to it telling the story of your process from earth to tapestry? What an incredible, special journey and story. Thank you for doing this and taking us on your journey!!
I have a degree in Fashion design production. I had to take a textile course. I must say I learned a lot more then I did at my college. Wow, talk about a video thesis. Thank you for this well doc and payless contribution ❤
This is such an amazing video, and an even MORE amazing accomplishment! As someone obsessed with plants and fiber arts, I’ve always been interested in trying to grow something I could make fiber from, but it’s very intimidating! Plus, as you’ve shown here, it requires quite a bit of specialized equipment. I’m also more than a bit of a perfectionist and too often fall into the trapping mindset of “if I can’t do it right exactly perfectly then I’d rather not do it at all.” I 100% understand the need to just keep pushing forward in order to enjoy the excitement of a new process/project while also constantly having to remind myself that it’s not supposed to be perfect the first time. I just applaud you on everything about this video. Seriously, you’ve accomplished something incredible here and I hope you know how amazing it is. ❤ Happy New Year! 🎉
This was a lot of fun to sit down and watch through! I really enjoyed watching your journey and even though I have no idea about so many aspects of the hobbies and skills in this, it was still so much fun to watch.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. I am a weaver and I was so pleased to see you obviously had an excellent teacher. You nailed the whole weaving process and most importantly, your edges are perfectly straight. BTW, your loom is to die for!
Wow! Wow! Wow! I so loved your video, and your tenacity, and your passion. Congrats going from seed to tapestry. Love it. When you grow more flax, I wonder if having a fan in the area will help make the stems more sturdy. I know I do that for growing indoor plants from seed.
What an incredible journey. All this was done by hand for much of human history, and that is SO MUCH work. So many people must have put thousands of hours into each and every piece of fabric made.
Fun fact: the companies that used to make hackles went into the pet brush industry when hackles were no longer profitable!
I realized that "slicker brushes" for dogs are carding brushes to card the dog hair for spinning later, after I got into spinning. :)
@valerieprice1745 yes I got two cheap dog brushes online for 3 euro each with wooden handles as my carding brushies. Instead of 60 dollars ..they look exactly the same and still working 6 years after.
Wow!! Thank you for sharing.
😯😃👍
Dog slicker brushes work for wool cleaning. I bet the would work for flax
Growing your own flax - okay. Making fiber from it - okay. Spinning yarn - okay. Not that I would be able to do any of this myself, it seemed complicated as hell, but it did not seem magical. But when you set down to WEAVING. . . Oh my God! My grandmother had a big carpet loom and made rugs and carpets. I always thought it was some kind of sorcery. And you just take out a loom. . . "I've got a loom somewhere." Boom! One loom, coming up. "Oh, and I've learned how to weave the other day," you said matter-of-factly. "This is how you make your pattern," you said like it was nothing at all. And you proceeded to actually weaving. I'm like: "WHA'? . ." I don't know how to express my admiration of your dedication, skill and perseverance. Hats off. Long live perfectionists!
40:53 I didn’t question your motives at all when diving right in. I think I do that too. But in a weird way it’s almost like when you jump into the deep end you learn a lot more and faster. And then when you do something that’s maybe more beginner or even intermediate level it feels less daunting. Like you’ve already conquered the last steps,ya know. I appreciate your leap! It makes things that seemed so impossible; very do-able now. Thank you!!Don’t doubt yourself girlie. 😊
This is one of those insanely complex processes where I just marvel at how (and why!) ancient people managed to invent linen.
their are many things that make you wonder about the first person to do the thing, I dare you to really think about dairy products, or black eggs, etc...lol history is both strange and more than a bit terrifying
Yes, there are loads of things with complex processes which always make me wonder 'how on earth did they think of that? What made them put A together with B then do C and come out with something completely different?'
When you have nothing but time and trial and error you can do a host of things, we are kind of relying on technology and arent learning to experiment any more really
Also, seeing the process, it's very likely they just came about it accidentally and slowly improved upon the method overtime!
When I was younger I would play with dried plants by breaking them apart and looking at their fibers, I'm sure when there was far less to do more people did the same.
Possibly plants they had near water sources dried out out and whent through the process completely naturally and when someone notice the long fibers they might have believed they had a use
I highly doubt they went into the process trying to find a way to make cloths, they probably found the fibers first and its uses later maybe starting as a type of rope
There was no TV/newspapers/no social media, people had time and patience to try and savour and enjoy things. Also, there weren't many things around, so they had to be creative and also different, so they could sell novelties. @@catwoman7462
You need to store your saved seeds in paper not plastic bags. Plastic will cause the seeds to sweat and then rot. They need to be kept cool and dry. Also paper envelopes are good for storage too. Then you can write on the envelope what type of seeds they are. Good luck .
I didn't have that problem, then again,the rest of my bag had paper towels stuffed in it.
Thank you so much. I have always wondered how the women of old went through the process of making their cloth from the ground up. Thanks for creating this educational presentation for all who are interested.
I always wondered why seeds were stored in paper, thank you!
good to know
That’s not entirely true… If they are “sweating” and rotting, they are too wet and are also likely to sprout. It might be good to store them in paper at first when you are storing your own seed (I do) but if you buy seed and it is in plastic, it better be good as it is…. Also, storing them in paper can invite humidity or even spillage if you have a water accident near your seeds. I store my seeds inside their paper packages inside a ziplock plastic freezer bag. I’m a “big” gardener from multigenerational gardener family in an agricultural area.
Probably wasn’t your intent with this video, but I did shed a tear seeing the weaving come together into a textile. This is the first video of your’s I’ve watched. I’ve crocheted for 10 years, knit for 4, and I just love watching others do advanced fiber techniques. I aspire to have more space to try weaving someday. I think it was your care and dedication (from a fellow perfectionist) to this endeavor that moved me! Beautiful work, thank you!
A technique that can be used to get a woven piece is to make bobbin lace.
Two techniques for weaving that take very little space: first is the inkle loom. It allows you to make woven fabric about the width of a very wide belt, which you can then sew together to make larger textiles.
The other can be as broad as you can manage it, which starts at the width of a narrow strip of inkle loom fabric, and extends to widths I, a beginner weaver, probably can't imagine. It's called a backstrap loom.
Neither of them takes much space to use: the inkle just a bit larger than a place at dinner, the backstrap about as much as you'd need to do yoga. The inkle in storage the same size, the backstrap a rolled yoga mat.
I love the ethic of "launch yourself into doing something to bypass perfectionist anxiety"
This is such a cool project!
Love ❤️ that you just went for it
Amen
I need these words! Thank you! 🙏
The patience! The hard work! The art! ❤
Not sure if someone else has mentioned this yet, but something I learned about anything that flowers: The presence of flowers is highly likely attached to the amount of daylight hours the plants receive during the growing process. By planting so late, you gave the plants shorter and shorter hours, and it wasn't until the number of daylight hours started to increase that you were able to get flowers to form. Hope that helps you going forward. This (delay in blooming) will also happen if there are too many hours of daylight, FYI.
came down here to see if anyone else had pointed this out! time of year is not just about temperature
I've only ever tried to grow weed and i was wondering if this was a factor for flax like it is for weed lol
@@popejaimieI learned a ton about plants in general due to learning how to grow the same said greenery. LOL. And yes, it applies to the majority of flowering plants (i.e tomatoes, squash, etc.), which I figured out when I attempted to grow some roma tomatoes in my grow room. They would not flower until I changed my light schedule.
@@EluraCorenBooks so what is an example of the most effecient light schedule for ur romas?
@@dazey8706 I don't grow veggies indoors, but if they compare to the plants I do grow indoors, 12 hours on, 12 hours off is the schedule used to induce flowering. Vegetative state (growth only, no flowering) is done using anything over 18 hours on, with a lot of growers choosing to just do full (24 hours) light for vegetative, then once the plants are at the height they want, switching to the 12-12 schedule. Keep in mind that the plants will still do a little vegetative growth for up to 2 weeks after the switch.
Hope that helps.
I am a spinner and pretty good at it. When I went from short staples like cotton and merino wool to flax, it was a challenge for me. That staple length gets me every time, it takes me a bit to warm up to it and you are exactly right keeping that distance to draft the flax properly. I use a damp towel and lay over my flax a bit before spinning and keep a wet cloth in a bowl to wipe my fingers on. A bowl of water didn’t work out so well with the fur kids 🤣
The roving splits because of how the machines process it, strip it down, it won’t hurt it at all. I spin across the top but not when I first started. Eventually you will be able to spin across the top too, your thumb is what controls where the fiber drafts from. Practice turning your thumb with a light grip and watch the draft move across. Look up drafting from across the top.
I have flax seeds to plant, wish me luck. Great video, I really enjoyed it.
Now fully realizing how labour intensive making fabrics and thread is, I also realized how much of a jerk Aurora’s dad was in Sleeping Beauty. Burning all the spinning wheels in the land so the Princess won’t accidentally prick her finger? That is such an out-of-touch billionaire move. All those poor women having their tools destroyed.
He wasn't the billionaire. He was the government. Exact same as in real life:
Govt: does literally anything, ever.
Millions of people: Harmed.
@@Schoolship. for your consideration: he was both. In either case, super in the wrong to destroy the tools of the working class people
@@simplyixia3683 i can get with that. Hard to separate the two groups, or even see any lines of distinction anymore. May as well just call them one group, cronyism
Yeah, I've been working on a fleece rug for about a year and a half now, and I'm only just getting to the carding process (I need to save for a carding drum). I've also spun yarn (drop spindle) and woven fabric. I'm hoping to one day start my own fibre farm (alpaca, sheep, and cotton) and get a large loom to make my own clothes
He also set up his country's textile economy by decades after that move.
And had to rely on imported clothes since then, wasting most of the royal trezory on buying clothing.
There was an Area in Germany was called "das blaue Ländchen" (the blue little country in English), because the people there where growing flax and when the flax bloomed, all of this area had a blue hue or shimmer of all the blue Flowers. Just a random fact, but in my opinion it represents how important Flax was.
Funny, I was at the fabric store today, just browsing. I was particularly drawn to the linens, and was researching what project I might want to tackle.
Came across this video, and thought, "yeah, how the heck DO they turn the worlds most useful weed into fabric." So I clicked on this video, thinking no way was I going to spend an hour watching.
Just wow, what an effort. This was so enlightening, and you were an absolute trooper. Also, I will never complain about spending $20 for a yard of linen fabric, now that I know what all the steps involved are. Freaking amazing.
Production of linen sold in stores is most likely automated, so $20 is still over priced. The farmers that put in most work get pittiance.
Absolutely right @@ghostratsarah
@@ghostratsarahThe farmers aren't growing finished bolts of linen... if you buy the linen and make a dress that sells for $100 you don't send that money back to the fabric store to give to the supplier to give to the weaver to give to the spinner to give to the farmer who grew the flax
You can also get old/antique linen fyi. There are stores that sell it. Theres some thats from 1890s, all hand made. I think thats especially cool to use something like that on a project
This showed up on my feed randomly. I was looking for something calming to help me sleep, but I’m so invested that I will be watching until the end, or coming back in the morning if I fall asleep! Totally fascinating.
I'm in the exact same boat!
Same, i dont really even have a strong interest in textiles, i just wanted to learn how the cloth is made
It’s 2:30am and I should really be asleep but this is so interesting I have to finish watching
Pineapple fiber has also historically been spliced and used for weaving, just like linen! :D
They are very expensive in my country...a prized fabric. I suppose linen managed to keep its price relatively "affordable" since more people grow/make it.
@@sorestedhebytheTumtumtreeflax is also easy to grow and fast too.
this is my TIL!!
Ugh. Like which part of a pineapple?
I'm mere minutes into the video and I just needed to say how much I admire your content and this project specifically! This hits such a niche of long form content that I absolutely adore and adds fiber arts, so all around 10/10! 🎉🎉🎉
"You might be asking why I'm jumping ahead..." as someone with sudden hyperfixations, ADHD, and paralyzing perfectionism, I was not wondering that at all because I do the exact same thing lol even if you failed at every step, this is incredibly commendable and encouraging. Like you are badass for this fr.
Just fantastic. Can you imagine how much more we’d care for and conserve our clothing and other textiles if this was the process we undertook to have them?! Well … you likely CAN imagine now lol. No wonder every last bit of fabrics were repurposed as much and as often as possible. Also …. My goodness I am really curious now about how much skill and what all was entailed in producing the fine and delicate fabrics …. Very inspiring. ❤
I'm fed up that our current world is hyper focused on productivity and efficiency. Why not take your time and appreciate the journey of making things? I know it goes against capitalism and conservatism to go back to your roots and slow down, but I don't care. Modern conservatism is a fashion trend that will die and be forgotten soon. But these crafts and traditions will never die. 🌈
@@robertschnobert9090 It goes against conservatisim to go back to your roots? It is the progressive ideal that has pushed us towards efficiency and productivity. The consumerist culture values using the cheapest materials for the least ammount of work.
I would call myself a moderate conservative, what you are conflating with conservatism is that "conservatism" is conserving the culture. The problem now is that the culture is peogressive so the neocons are technically conserving progressive culture. I want to look to the times before the industrial revolution, to conserve the environment, to conserve a prior, pre-christian moral philosophy, to conserve the world we live in.
Since you speak a little german, I think you might enjoy the series "Bäuerliche Flachskultur" on the channel "Alltagskulturen im Rheinland". It was shot in the 1970's and shows the whole process of growing and processing flax very authenticly to how the people of the region have done it for centuries. I learned a lot from it and it is a super interesting watch!
Since it's fairly visual, it could probably still be interesting to someone who speaks very little or even no german at all.
I also will look that up, thank you
Thank you. I looked it up and will watch it (no German, but I can understand pictures!) A while ago I watched and bookmarked a video I enjoyed about the traditional process of making Irish linen. Also very interesting! ruclips.net/video/tqntI3Ec8Ew/видео.html
It can be watched with English subtitles on RUclips.
Thank you sm
here's me...off to look for it!
I can’t imagine how sentimental that textile must be to you 🥺 Who knows, maybe one day you’ll be spinning the finest linen we’ve seen in a long time but even if you never spun again you’d always have these memories 🥰 Also this video flew by in the best way, I totally misread the time and thought it was a 10 minute video. I didn’t even realise it was going longer, let alone an hour long, until I saw the timestamp at the end! Something about watching you learn and complete the different steps of this process was so immersive
I worked for a number of years for a rural working museum and learned about this process. After the flax was properly dried out we would go thru the process of getting to making the flax. I then learned how to spin it to make the strand so we could dress out a loom and weave our own linen. I can attest, it is quite a process!. I weave, spin, hook rugs, do punch needle, sew. It seems anything textile interests me very much. Thank you for your video.
I am in the fifth year of my own flax to linen project. I have a blog on wordpress ('Growing my own garb') documenting it - we are still getting to the point of spinning the fibre. I live in NZ, and importing seeds for linen varieties is difficult - so the fibre quality from my older landrace seeds is a bit variable. I find that early lodging is OK - the plants will right themselves until they get too tall. I think they didn't flower for a long time because the conditions weren't right - maybe day length, even though it was warm enough for them to grow. Mine (on my windy & rainy, hilly, coastal conditions) often takes longer than a friend in Canada needs for hers - conditions make such a difference for all aspects. My retting often takes about 10 days (it's not hot enough for the water temps to stay consistently warm enough). I've found skinnier stems are harder to break/give less fibre than thicker stems - so I've endeavoured not to sow too thickly.
I’m also from NZ and have been really interested in making my own textiles. Id love to know if you’ve ever tried making linen from harakeke/ NZ flax. I know they’re two completely plants and Māori traditionally didnt use a loom to create fabrics, but I’d love to know if harakeke can be made into a delicate fabric? Māori didn’t typically need fabrics to be delicate and soft as the purpose of Muka capes was to act as ceremonial garb or as rain jackets. Even so I’d love to know if anyone else from NZ has tried
I love linen and appreciate my linen clothing much more after learning what is involved in growing and processing from seed to fabric.
I am not finished with the video yet, but I just wanted to say that everyone's first yarn looks like that. If you keep spinning there will come a day when that kind of thick and thin yarn is very difficult to make. So just enjoy your early work as fun novelty or art yarns.
0:21 I love the intro truly showing that anyone can be capable of doing something if they set their mind to it! 😊☺️
Have you ever watched videos by Sally Pointer? It’s fascinating to see her make fibers from stinging nettle and other plants. She does a lot of work with hands on experimental archeology.
I thought about her too - she did a video where she made hackles out of blackthorns.
I love a bunch of her videos too!
Congratulations on your first seed to cloth project. From what I've read and videos I've seen, I think linen might be the most difficult fiber to process. My hat is off to you!
Not sure if you'll find this interesting or not, but I noticed you have a dog with a double coat. When you brush them, you can save and wash that fluffy undercoat and spin yarn out of that as well. Had a friend that used to do that. Even if you do it just for the practice, its a free source of "wool"
I'm that crazy cat person who keeps the undercoat fibers from their cats in hopes that one day I might have an incredibly soft, partially cat-based textile.
@@theyxaj 😊 probably a knitted scarf for your cat is more realistic, oh so sweet 😊
I’m watching this as I handbind a book😂😂 I love when people have oddly specific hobbies lol
The series was so fun to follow along but by bit, but this compilation in a single video is such a valuable resource for future flax-to-linen-ers! 🙌 Thank you for sharing!
This is on my list of things that I need to do for reasons I do not understand!
Same. The DIY bug bites when you least expect it.
😂😂 same!
I grew a small patch of flax last year. I processed it by using an old pair of ridged butter pat paddles....yeah... painstakingly slooowww! Cracking the stems one at a time 😱! But...i made flax strands! Oh the joy and sense of pride. I am to weave a square of my own linen 👏👏
OMG! I'm not the only one to grow my own flax & try to process it with ridged butter pats 😂! I live in Wales, UK. Last summer, I sat in the garden & 'sawed away ' with my butter pats. I was so thrilled to make at least a cm thickness of a bunch of linen strands 👏👏! I've still got more to 'process' tho. I plan to weave it...even if I just make a coaster, lol 😂 😂
Where did you get seeds? I can't find any online for linen
I'm honestly shocked that I managed to sit through this whole video because I've AuADHD and that tends to make me, well, bore easily. But your voice is so soothing and you keep your videos interesting and it makes me want to start making my own linen haha
You're speaking to my soul. I come from the vegetable gardening/homesteading side and feel so satisfied to eat a whole meal from my own garden that i seeded myself. The next challenge for me is to create a textile from seed to finish. Thanks for sharing your journey! ❤
Amazing! Man I can’t help but think I’d much rather being doing activities like this all day along with some women friends and family rather than sitting behind a computer
Even though I watched all the individual videos, I really enjoyed this compilation. Many people I watch on YT aren't posting much over this week, so I appreciate the content and the extra editing!
I absolutely LOVE that you attempted every step of this process with almost no prior experience. What a learning adventure! So proud of you!
Did I cry a little when I saw that golden strip on the loom? No, I cried kind of a lot.
Now that I have come to the end of this video I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster! 😆I have been a knitter for many years and have thought about diving into things like spinning, dyeing and producing my own fiber so the title of the video grabbed my attention. There were many moments I thought you were a little crazy for taking this project on but when I saw the finished product I was so happy for you!! WELL DONE! And thanks for bringing us along!
It's very interesting to watch your experiments.
And to know that on the other side of the Earth there is a person who is also interested in trying to make clothes from scratch.
A few years ago I also made a similar trip, but instead of flax I used wild nettles. I collected it in the forest in winter (because by winter the weather does most of the fiber decomposition; the stems were well dried), and from a huge armful I got 50 grams of fiber. however, it was an interesting experience.
I wish you good luck and prosperity to your channel!
This is soooo cool! I was starting to think about this, because I am so tired of low quality clothes. Granted, I haven't even learned to sew, just listening to this ❤️ Thank you for sharing!
Fascinating video. I once grew a small corner of flax in the herb garden of my allotment (UK word for community garden) just to see how it grew for seed, which was an interest of mine at the time. I got the feeling that this crop needed space and I would need acres of the stuff to do anything with. I love your video, your dedication but also a clear demonstration of my point. It is the most beautiful plant. Many a community must have relied on it. And my goodness, how precious the cloth must have been that was finally made from the fibres. Well done!
Wow. Very Very impressive. You just earned a subscriber. Cant wait to see the next adventure
It never gets old to see your plants doing well and starting to bloom! Always so exciting!
I love to wear linen fabric and your video makes one appreciate how much work goes into producing linen fabric. Thanks so much for walking us through the process! Very cool!
I love how you explain how difficult it all is. I inherited a lot of linen that my greatgrandmother spun and wove. Makes you appreciate the fabric so much more! Also the fact that it's 100 year old fabric and it looks brand new. Probably the highest quality most ethical fabric I will ever get my hands on
You could try adding cane/dowels when growing the flax. Might help keeping it up.
Also pre drafting the fibre before spinning, will help massively, less bulk to pull from.
The spinning wheel is difficult at the beginning, simply practice treadling without any fibre clockwise and anticlockwise
I am an herbalist who was gifted with 3 areas of flax that volunteered this year! 2 areas were within my black raspberries and the 3rd were interspersed amongst my Vervain Officianalis (which had volunteered last year!). With a lot of vigilance, I was able to use the berry canes and the Vervain plants as supports for a sizable amount of the flax! I have to say that taking growing space and soil nutrients from my precious Vervain made me a bit nervous, but it worked out well for both of them! The flax was harvested and hung to dry because summer & fall are just not times of the year that a working herbalist can spare for a non medicinal project! This video popped up today (and I hadn't searched it before!)-I'm sure as a reminder to this tired old gal that it's time to work on a new project! I'm hoping that the length of time between harvest and now beginning processing hasn't ruined it. If it has, I've learned a lesson...ans will move on to working on making cordage from blackberry brambles and wreaths the wild grapevines that are also now dry. Never a moment's rest when you HAVE to grow, harvest, and create! 😁💓🌿🎋
@ that’s great that you’re getting back out there and exploring what’s available to you, did you mean to reply to my comment on the video. I’m not entirely sure what your comment has to do with mine.
Wow!!! You should be so proud of yourself! This is so impressive! Well done!!!!!!
Watching your whole process from seed to spin was a complete joy to watch. Thank you for sharing!
Cool process to watch! I have the same perfectionist issues. In the past I haven’t done many things I would have liked to because I worried it wouldn’t be right. I am learning it’s ok to fail and that in the failing is where we learn. Thank you for keeping it real! Truly appreciate that.
I am a "recovering" perfectionist. I came across an idea to focus on perfecting the process and not so much on the perfect outcome or end product. This shift in mindset has really helped me. Hopefully, it will help others, too. 🙂
@@VKRollins Perfecting a skill is goals. Any project that failed isn't wasted if you learned from it, have another go, and do it better this time.
Ohhhh this will be good! I grew a little flax last summer, but I didn't get the fibres to break down right, so I couldn't continue the process. Excited to try again!
It's videos like this that make your channel stand out from other channels alike. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.🥰
Oh, i cried when you've made your final piece and put her on display! Such hard work, dedication... respect for the process! Thank you for sharing this moments with us
I happened across this video and I've no related hobbies, but I'm SO invested in your success at this point that I've subscribed - for life. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Unbelievable .Im absolutely floored ,how did humans do this whole process ,and do it alot
Slaves maybe?
This really highlights how textiles are so difficult.
I understand the rush to get through the project once. I do the same thing. I call it a practice run. It gives me a better idea of the whole process and I can refine it in my mind the next time.😊
i have no idea about knitting nor about flax i dont know why youtube algorithm recommended the video to me but my goodness the vibes and the wholesomeness of this video charmed me and watched the entire video lol, subbed and thank you for the lovely content cheers 🥰
Overall so interesting! I love linen clothing; and you have helped me to love it all the more! I also appreciate how you told us of the drawbacks and problems you had (especially early on in growing and first steps of preparing the fibers). And so I love your perseverance through all of it. Your final wall hanging, with that one beautiful stripe of dyed seed-to-linen fabric, is so beautiful and meaningful. Thank you!
I have the same wheel! I’ve been afraid to spin flax. I’ve spun a lot of wool and even some bamboo. You have inspired me to branch out! Also heartily also recommend Evie’s channel!
I have a small remaining piece of a linen bed coverlet that my great-great-grandmother (Pennsylvania Dutch) made from seed to fabric (including making the dyes). Thank you for showing the process.
Bravo! As a longtime spinner I am gobsmacked by what you accomplished!! Flax is difficult for seasoned spinners and to learn that entire process and then to dye and weave it - wow!! It will make you look at cloth in a whole new way. You gave yourself a masters degree in fabric and I applaud you! My only thought is that you might prefer a castle wheel as opposed to a saxony if you are used to a treadle sewing machine. Try one if you can and see which you prefer. On my bucket list is processing raw fleece, dyeing, spinning and knitting a Niebling shawl. It’s only taken about 12 years of practice and two years of effort but I’m finishing the spinning now and the knitting will be a piece of cake. Next up is a wool vest from woven goods on a loom that I saved from the landfill. Hopefully I can learn old school tailoring on that project. Good wishes for your next projects!
Awesome video! I think its really cool how you show when in your process you run up against challenges or questions and return to sources whether other videos or books! really shows the collaborative nature of learning a new skill! i wish more maker content creators would do that as it makes learning a skill seem more approachable, and points people to useful resources!
Never been so impressed by a video like this one before, amazing work and patience ❤👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Flax is a very universal and resilient plant. I live in a small village in Germany and 400 years ago every family made their clothes their own flax.
Below the village there are still traces of the fax rot area.
Linen clothes are very good and the seeds have great nutrients for both humans and livestock like chicken.
Your determination in the face of unexpected hurdles is really inspiring. This is usually how I do a big new project: with a bunch of research, a ton of enthusiasm, and kind of sort of a plan :) Thank you for the video!
29:50 this is exactly what i’m doing with this video! right now i’m making a memory quilt out of my old high school band shirts, and after watching a tutorial, i picked out this video to listen to!
I'm impressed with your passion for this project and that you've just jumped in and are doing it rather then allowing things not being just right or not having experience in something hold you back. Fantastic seeing all of the research and hours that you've put in and you're process. Very inspiring
Just wondering, is a tanin soak be more environmentally friendly then alum?
I really like this content which describes making thread or rope from natural materials and renewable dyes. Hopefully lots of content will be created to create crafts whose materials can be updated.
What timing, I’m listening to “20,000 Years…” now and thought this would be a fun cross-watch - what a hoot that it was one of your references during the process! I’m tempted to hunt down a copy of the full thesis as well! Thank you for taking on this challenge and documenting/sharing it - a total joy to a fiber/maker/history/process junkie like me! 🤣🥳
Does it say what the title/author of the thesis is anywhere? I've been searching for a few minutes. I didn't see anything here so I'll try my hand at trying to Google it! I'm also interested in that thesis, haha. 😂
Thank you for this fascinating video! I doubt that I will ever do anything similar, but I love the way you tackled each skill. I even identify with your comments about being a perfectionist, and will take your "dive right in" approach to heart.
And if you can manage all that gear in an apartment, I definitely have room in my little house!
There always must be smeone who is brave enough to start things (perfectionist or not) to find out how it works. And also today, when old techniques gettig lost, we need someone like her to get into this fascinating process again. So, I'm really thankfull to be able to watch this.
Loved your comments regarding Spinnstube and your heartfelt connections to generations of spinners as you worked with your own flax to linen process. Thank you for this video. -Sally from MO
Excellent work! Your determination and will to experiment is incredible. Here's a few notes if you want to spin flax again:
When you spin commercially prepared flax, I find it difficult to spin the sliver on a distaff; I only use a distaff with long line fibers I get from flax stricks. I typically spin it as is without carding it into rolags, but that's just a personal preference!
You don't need to completely dry the flax to test how the retting is going. You can just scrape it or rub it against itself to check if the vegetable matter sloughs off easily or not. It makes for a bit more efficient process!
A cheaper option for a coarse flax hackle is a wig hackle. The process is exactly the same; it straightens and untangles the fibers. Also, try hackling from the very end of your flax to the part that you're holding in your hand.
I hope these little tips are helpful!
Omg this is insane. I have no interest in knitting or weaving but I watched the entire thing. Good job!
Watching how complex this process is it makes you wonder how human beings ever came to the conclusion that this grass could be made into fabric.
Just like the evolution of the eye, I'm sure it was in steps. At first people probably just manually threaded physical vines and straw together to form rough fabrics, which isn't that complex and simply takes a few hours of sitting and fiddling around with plants to discover. Then they realized they can make fabric with less holes in it by ripping down whole stems into finer threads, and identified plants which can do this efficiently and yield good fibres. Then all the beating out of undesirable materials, hand-assemblage of rough yarn, and eventually the invention of the spinning wheel, etc. came later.
i mean, when I was in summer camp instead of listening to the bible lesson I would pull up the leafy weeds around me where I sat because I'd learned the plants had strong fibrous lines in the stem and I liked to pull them out and see how long and continuous I could get them. I imagine if you grew up surrounded by flax fields and with no books or video games you'd probably dick around with plants and figure out that there's this long, strong fiber inside this one plant's stem and wonder what you can do with it.
This is the first of your videos I've watched, but it was super inspiring. I have a lifetime aspiration (if we are pretending I'm a Sim) to make a piece of clothing having done every step of the process myself. I'll probably do wool or cotton though but that's mostly because I'm not a big fan of linen clothing and also because I really want a pet alpaca or goat or sheep. But this made me feel so much more inspired that it's actually possible.
From bottle-fed orphan lamb to finished woollen garment is also a wild ride of skills. But if you do get a lamb or goat or alpaca, please get at least two, because they are herd animals and get lonely and very scared and stressed if they're by themselves. On the upside, you can get one of each and they will form a herd even though they're all different species.
@@tealkerberus748 I'm not getting them anytime soon, but good to know that they herd with each other. I didn't know that! I plan on doing a lot more research before purchasing any animals, but fortunately, my dad grew up on a farm (though they raised beef cattle primarily) and has some friends who have raised alpaca and sheep for wool.
I had No intention of watching this whole video ! Lately I have been curious about this, so when I came across this vid I decided to skim through it. I can't Believe I Watched the Whole thing ! You are a terrific speaker, very calming, very thorough, without too many details and most of all You Did not Keep Repeating self! so EXCELLENT ! ! ! ! ! THANKS ! ! ! !
I absolutely loved your journey & success! I'm an herbalist who was gifted with 3 areas of flax that volunteered this year! 2 areas were within my black raspberries and the 3rd were interspersed amongst my Vervain Officianalis (which had volunteered last year!). With a lot of vigilance, I was able to use the berry canes and the Vervain plants as supports for a sizable amount of the flax! I have to say that taking growing space and soil nutrients from my precious Vervain made me a bit nervous, but it worked out well for both of them! The flax was harvested and hung to dry because summer & fall are just not times of the year that a working herbalist can spare for a non medicinal project! This video popped up today (and I hadn't searched it before!)-I'm sure as a reminder to this tired old gal that it's time to work on a new project! I'm hoping that the length of time between harvest and now beginning to process hasn't ruined it. If it has, I've learned a lesson...and will move on to working on making cordage from blackberry brambles and wreaths from the wild grapevines that are also now both dry. Never a moment's rest when you HAVE to grow, harvest, and create! 😁💓🌿🎋
Your channel really stands out, I love your authenticity and openness to learning and figuring stuff out! I learn a lot, thanks so much. Happy 2024! 🎉
While watching, I kept noticing how grateful I am that we live now, when we can choose whether and when to go back to the basics. Imagine the earliest days when people figured all this out without any guides-and large necessity! 😮
Your nickname: MacGyver!!
And your final tapestry, gorgeous, very special. You’re extremely capable; I’d want you on the desert island! 😂😂
Wow, I'm so impressed with your perseverance on this project. I also appreciate that you show the whole process, including the attempts that didn't succeed. So many videos on here make projects seem way easier than they are, leading to disappointment and frustration when people try to repeat them.
At 29:37 I am screaming yes, yes yes draft it thinner than you think girl yesssss yess!! Lol 😂❤ so satisfying to see someone else getting the hang if spinning. It has been my winter boredom buster for the last few years. I will say making my own rollags (I just lightly lay out enough for one then use a thick even marker, in my case a highlighter, to make the roll) makes keeping the yarn a consistent thickness waaaaaay easier than working directly from the braid like you did here. Still came out beautiful and I love seeing someone else that's like "hmm what if I tried this thing I read" doing the process. It makes me so happy ❤
I looooove youuu!!! Seriously thanks for the whole project and also for the effort of sharing it ❤. To know there is is Simeone so stubborn and dedicar and living of the procesos of making things is so healing and also a celebration for me . Thaaaanks so so much
I may be late to suggest an idea or two: when growing anything in a new area/zone its good to know and attempt to emulate the right lighting condition from early growth to bloom. Getting lights at specific ranges of ‘k’ is important to emulate spring/summer and fall lighting. This will significantly improve your growing process. Also, hang your lights directly above the plants at a short of safe height so the plants dont stretch. As they grow increase height of lamps. These two suggestions can help tremendously.
I enjoy watching videos like yours on handmade fibers because I'm a knitter and I crochet. In one my of many hours looking for info, I stumbled in documentaries from the 40s-70s and I found a wonderful one called "Spinning Flax (1940-1949)". I love listening to the 40s British accent. It's a Linen Factory setting but they explain all the steps in a fascinating way. There is also one called "Hands: Wool Spinning" from Ireland documenting from Sheep to Sweater in a small village.
Nah you’re doing it exactly right. Starting with wool would just be procrastinating. So excited for you having gone on this journey and definitely impressive results!!
Wow. Not only a beautiful end result of what you crafted. But what an incredibly well-filmed and put-together video! For this being your first time doing this, the educational value on this is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing this with us! And for gifting new ideas for the bucket list. It was inspiring to watch. It looked like so much fun to make.
Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! Bravo!!! I LOVE THIS AND SM SO AMAZED! 🎉 Uour tapestry weaving is absolutely precious and I hope it's cherished for generations. Maybe write a little poem and frame it next to it telling the story of your process from earth to tapestry? What an incredible, special journey and story. Thank you for doing this and taking us on your journey!!
I am supposed to be sleeping right now, but I got sucked into watching your project. Great job 👏 👏👏
I only got to weave once during high school, making clothing from plastic bags, but damn was it fun. So relaxing!
Good for you!! You had such a huge learning curve to surmount!!!!! On every level!! Good for you girl!!
THIS has been my dream for about ten years. It's amazing to watch 😊
wow- over a year! that is dedication! I am impressed!! When I think of the time that the only way you could get clothes was to do all of this...gosh.
I have a degree in Fashion design production. I had to take a textile course. I must say I learned a lot more then I did at my college. Wow, talk about a video thesis. Thank you for this well doc and payless contribution ❤
This is such an amazing video, and an even MORE amazing accomplishment! As someone obsessed with plants and fiber arts, I’ve always been interested in trying to grow something I could make fiber from, but it’s very intimidating! Plus, as you’ve shown here, it requires quite a bit of specialized equipment.
I’m also more than a bit of a perfectionist and too often fall into the trapping mindset of “if I can’t do it right exactly perfectly then I’d rather not do it at all.” I 100% understand the need to just keep pushing forward in order to enjoy the excitement of a new process/project while also constantly having to remind myself that it’s not supposed to be perfect the first time.
I just applaud you on everything about this video. Seriously, you’ve accomplished something incredible here and I hope you know how amazing it is. ❤
Happy New Year! 🎉
This was a lot of fun to sit down and watch through! I really enjoyed watching your journey and even though I have no idea about so many aspects of the hobbies and skills in this, it was still so much fun to watch.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. I am a weaver and I was so pleased to see you obviously had an excellent teacher. You nailed the whole weaving process and most importantly, your edges are perfectly straight. BTW, your loom is to die for!
Wow! Wow! Wow! I so loved your video, and your tenacity, and your passion. Congrats going from seed to tapestry. Love it.
When you grow more flax, I wonder if having a fan in the area will help make the stems more sturdy. I know I do that for growing indoor plants from seed.
What a good idea! I have never thought of using a fan for my indoor seedlings. Definitely a strategy I will start to use. 🙂👍
This is such a beautiful project! Thanks for inviting us in
What an incredible journey. All this was done by hand for much of human history, and that is SO MUCH work. So many people must have put thousands of hours into each and every piece of fabric made.
I’m so full in my heart right now, your voice, your mannerisms, your content is so uplifting! Thank you!