The fine quality of Egyptian linen has lead to much speculation of how it might have been made. It has been shown that splicing is the answer and not traditional draught spinning. I was keen to find out more details and I believe that even the experiments of a complete novice like me give some insight. Cat Lewis of Llieinwe kindly allowed me to use some of her flax for splicing experiments. Some was thicker, […]
I don’t know. But how are those beautiful colours in old carpets or Egyptian Coptic textiles like the one in the image above still holding their brightness? Or even earlier, this rug, now in the Hermitage which dates to 400BC? In my search for sustainable natural dyeing I came across the fermentation method as practiced by Manfred Bierber. The carpet pictured above also seems to have been made using the same technique. I don’t know […]
I got this flax from ‘Berta’s Flax’, a guild set up by Christiane Seufferlein in order to preserve the tradition of flax working and to honour women’s lives. You can find out more about it here. Thank you Christiane. The flax belonged to Rosa Höglinger (Mühel, Sarleinsbach) who was married to husband Max. You can see a picture of her taken in 1949 here. Unfortunately, not much is known about her. This flax would have […]
