Craftsmanship
From Flax to Cloth
Written by Isabella Moore
Flax goes in the ground in April and comes out in July. Everything after that is patience.
Ninety days, roughly
Retting, scutching, hackling, spinning, weaving, finishing — roughly ninety days from field to bolt, if nothing goes wrong. Something always goes wrong.
Where the losses happen
We followed one crop the whole way through, to understand where the losses happen and why the cloth costs what it costs. In order:
Retting, where a week of wrong weather can take the whole field.
Scutching, where the woody core is broken away and a portion of the fibre goes with it.
Hackling, which sorts the long line from the short tow and quietly halves your yield.
Weaving, where anything you missed earlier finally announces itself.
What the price is
By the time it reaches a loom, a field has become a fraction of itself. That fraction is the price. The finish that follows is described in The Art of Beetling.
Róisín Fahey
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does flax take to grow?
It goes into the ground in April and comes out in July. Everything after that is patience.
What are the stages?
Retting, scutching, hackling, spinning, weaving and finishing — roughly ninety days from field to bolt.
Why is linen expensive?
Because losses happen at every stage, and the stages cannot be rushed without ruining the fibre.
