From Flax to Fabric: The Unscripted Journey of Linen

From Flax to Fabric: The Unscripted Journey of Linen

Linen is one of the most popular and loved fabrics across the globe. Be it stylish apparel or even for home décor use, linen shows style, class and sophistication. What makes linen such a popular choice? Why does it have a value that not many other fabrics can boast of? Today, let us find out how linen is made. Let us understand its story from A to Z and get to know more about our favourite fabric. 

First, let us get to know some history about linen. While the data is not fully reliable, it is said that people in Europe have been making linen fabric as long as 36000 years ago. That makes linen one of the longest-produced textiles of all time. Records of this fabric also come from Switzerland from about 10000 years ago. It is reported that linen was first domesticated in Mesopotamia. While linen was reserved for the elite class in ancient Mesopotamia, it had a much looser and wider use in Egypt. Reportedly, linen was also used as currency at some point in Egypt. Linen has now over the ages, proliferated all over the world. 

Now that we had a short history lesson, let us understand how linen is actually made. Making linen is not just a plain process. It is actually a meticulous art and craft. Linen is made from flax plants. There is an elaborate process that is to be followed carefully to make linen. 

Planting and Harvesting Flax: As we saw before, linen is produced from flax plants. These plants take up very little water and are extremely sustainable plants environmentally. Flax seeds must be planted in the cooler parts of the year for them to grow well. Generally sown with machines, natural herbicides and tilling as a process are used to ensure reasonable growth. Once the stems are yellow and the seeds become brown, the plants are ready to be harvested. Harvesting can be done with machines or by hand depending on the size of the plantation. 

Fibre Separation and Breaking: After harvesting the flax stalks, they are processed to remove the leaves and seeds. This is the separation process. After that, these stalks are broken up. This process helps weed out the outer fibres that are unusable from the inner fibres that are subsequently used. 

Combing and Spinning: Once these inner fibres are separated from the unusable fibres, they are combed into thin strands. These strands are then ready for a process called spinning. To spin these flax fibres, combed fibres are connected with devices called spreaders. This process converts the fibres into strings. These strings are called rovings and are now ready to be spun. These rovings are spun on a frame thus making yarn. 

Drying and Dyeing: This yarn is dried and then reeled onto bobbins. This makes the almost finished product which is finally ready for the last process. The yarn is then dyed and made into our favourite fabric.

As you may have observed, making linen is an elaborate and tedious process. This is the reason why linen is slightly higher priced than other fabrics. The beautiful texture of linen, its cosy comfort and breathability are also a result of this precise process. Label Numaani presents you with linen apparel like you have never seen before! With refreshing colours and bold styles, your favourite fabric just got way cooler with Label Numaani. Check out our Social Media pages to avail amazing offers on all our products.

Back to blog