As promised in the previous article, today I will tell you how in Udmurtia they made linen fabric by hand. So, we arrived at the Sharkan National Museum, where we were told how flax used to be grown, processed and woven into linen fabric. Flax is a perennial or annual plant with a tall and straight stem of 40 cm or more. Flax flowers are very beautiful and consist of five or more drop-shaped petals, soft blue, white, light blue, and yellow.
weaving craft
The yarn was then hand woven on a loom to create the finished linen cloth.
So the craftswoman could make up to 4m per day. linen, natural fabric. "Beauty requires sacrifice!" - right?!
Sharkan flax plant
With the advent of technological progress, they opened their own flax processing plant in Sharkan.
Where all operations were performed using special technical equipment
This greatly facilitated the work of making flax fabric and put the plant into mass production.
MANUFACTURING FLAX THREAD
FLAX COLLECTION
There are two ways to harvest flax. One involves mechanized equipment, while the second is more manual and aims to increase fiber length.
Manual method
The mature plant is pulled out by the roots (not cut) to ensure maximum fiber length. After this, the cotton is dried, the seeds are removed and then it is soaked.
Depending on climatic conditions, the characteristics of the sown flax and the fields, the flax remains on the ground from two weeks to two months for soaking. As a result of alternating rain and sun, enzymatic action breaks down the pectins that bind the fibers into the bonfire. Farmers turn the bonfire during soaking to ensure the stems are evenly soaked.
When the fire is soaked and dry enough, it rolls up. It will then be sorted by farmers before being scutched to extract the fibres.
Flax grown for seed matures until the seed capsule turns yellow and simply begins to crack. It is harvested by a combine and dried to extract the seeds.
FLAX THRESHING
in the photo: Combing flax heads. On the right is an ancient tool made from fragments of scythes and used for these purposes. For small volumes of flax, an ordinary comb is suitable
Threshing is the process of removing seeds from the rest of the plant. Threshing can be done in the field using machinery or through another process described below. The process is divided into two parts.
The first part is intended for farmers or flax growers to get the flax into a suitable condition for general use. This is done by three machines: one to thresh the seeds, one to break down the bromes and separate the fibers, and one to further separate the broken bromes and material from the fibres. In some cases, farmers thresh the seeds in their own mills and therefore, in such cases, machines are not needed in the first part.
The second part of the process is for producers to bring the flax to a very good condition. The second part is carried out only by the processing machine.
The threshing process is carried out as follows:
● Flax is taken in small bunches. Holding the bunch in the left hand, the ends of the seeds are placed between the threshing machine and the platform or block on which the machine will strike. Then the handle of the machine is taken in the right hand, and the machine moves back and forth to strike the flax until all the seeds are threshed.
● Flax is taken in small handfuls in the left hand, placed exactly between the little finger and the third finger with the seeds down, and the ends of the roots up, as close to the hand as possible.
● Place a handful between the hammer of the threshing machine and beat gently until the three or four inches that the machine handles are soft.
● Remove the flax just above the hand, so as to allow the soft part of the flax to remain on the little finger and continue to beat it until it is all soft and the fibers are separated, keeping the left hand close to the block and the flax evenly along block as much as possible.
● The other end of the flax is then turned, and the end that was hit is wrapped around the little finger. The root end is aligned and beats in the machine the same way as the other before separation.
Before flax fibers can be used for linen yarn, they must be separated from the rest of the stem. The first step in this process is called soaking.
Retting is the process of rotting the inner stem, leaving the outer fibers intact. At this stage, what remains is char or coarse fibers. To remove them, the bonfire is broken into small, meek pieces, leaving the real fibers intact, then shaken until the bonfire is scraped off from the fibers, and then pulled through the “hair” that protrudes like a comb, clearing the fibers from the bonfire.
SOATING FLAX
in the photo: After the flax stalks were wet for two weeks and then dried, they turned into trust (straw). The photo shows that when rubbed, the fiber is well separated from the kernel (the hard part of the stem)
There are several methods for soaking flax. It can be soaked in a pond, river, field or in tanks. When retting is complete, the flax sheaves are soft and slippery to the touch, and very few fibers are separated from the stem. When it is wound around the finger, the inner part is separated from the fibers.
Soaking in a pond is the fastest. It consists of placing flax in a reservoir of water that does not evaporate. This usually occurs in a shallow body of water that gets very hot in the sun. The process can last from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Pond-soaked flax is traditionally considered to be of poor quality, perhaps because the product can become contaminated and easily become more wet than expected, damaging the fibers. This type of soaking also releases odor.
Retting in a stream is similar to retting in a pond, but the flax in the sheaves is immersed in a stream of water or in a river. This process usually takes longer than pond soaking—usually two or three weeks—but the final product is less likely to become contaminated and doesn't smell as bad because the water is cooler.
Both methods (soaking in a river or pond) are traditionally used less as they pollute the water used in the process.
In field retting, the flax is laid in a large field, allowing the dew to collect in it. This process usually takes a month or more, but typically results in the highest quality flax fibers and less contamination.
Soaking can also occur in plastic baskets or any type of waterproof container made of wood, concrete, clay or plastic. Metal containers are not used, because during soaking acid is produced, which can cause metal corrosion. If the water temperature is kept at 80°F, the soaking process under these conditions takes 4 to 5 days.
If the water is colder, the process takes longer. Garbage will collect at the top, and the smell will be released in the same way as when soaking in a pond. Enzymatic retting is currently being explored as a method for creating fibers with special properties.
CLEANING OF FLAX
Flax scouring is the term used for separating the kernels from the fibres. Cleaning consists of three steps:
☞ Kneading ☞ Fraying ☞ Carding
The kneading splits the bonfire, then a certain portion of the bonfire is scraped off the fibers during the beating process, then the fibers are pulled through a carder to remove the last portion of the bonfire. Cleaning is done as follows:
01. Bleeding
in the photo: Crumpling flax. A small bunch of trusta is placed on the ribs of the pulp. Under sharp blows, the inner woody part of the stem (brome) breaks
in the photo: Broken pieces of fire fall into the cracks between the ribs of the pulp
in the photo: mashka in profile
in the photo: Flax after crushing. Bonfire shredded, partially removed
The kneading process splits the fire into small segments. To do this, take the drawstrings and untie them. Then place small handfuls between the striker of a flax mill (a set of wooden paddles that lock together when the top is down, which are similar to a paper cutter but instead of a large knife there is a blunt lever).
They beat until the three or four inches that are worked seem soft. Move the flax a little higher and continue beating it until it is all soft and the woody part has separated from the fibers. When half the flax is split, take the beaten end and beat the rest in the same way until the woody part is separated.
02. Chattering
in the photo: Trembling. A bunch of crumpled flax is placed on the upper inclined plane of the “root” (tripod stand). Sliding blows are made with a flat wooden spatula (rattle). At the same time, pieces of the fire fly out. The bundle is turned and the movements are repeated
To remove some of the fire from the fiber, it helps to sweep a wooden raking beater down the fibers while they hang vertically, thereby scraping pieces of stem from the fibers with the scraping edge of the beater. Some fibers may be removed during the process, but this is normal.
in the photo: ruffled
in the photo: flax after fraying
03. Carding
in the photo: Carding. The remains of the bonfire are combed out, and the fibers are split (from ribbons they turn into hairs)
in the photo: Thick comb. At each stage of carding, the fiber is sorted by length - the long one remains in the hand, and the short one remains in the carder (from time to time it is removed and set aside separately)
In this process, the fiber is pulled through a flax comb (comb). A carder is a frame with “nails” - sharp, long, polished steel pins driven into wooden blocks at the same distance. A good sequence is 4 to 12, 25, 48, 80 pins per square inch. The first three will remove the fire, and the last two will separate and sand the fibers.
in the photo: Combing with a brush (a round brush made of pig bristles). In some provinces, for example, Novgorod brush was made from hedgehog skins
in the photo: On the left - flax prepared for carding; bottom right - tow (high quality fiber); at the top right - noil - a fiber from which coarser yarn is obtained for burlap, work clothes, etc.
SPINNING
Spinning is the direct production of thread (yarn) by twisting fibers.
in the photo: Spinning. The flax is tousled, slightly moistened and tied to the spinning wheel. A small part of the fibers is pulled out in the form of a loose clump
in the photo: With your left hand, the tuft is clamped at the base so that it does not come off the tow
in the photo: The spindle rotates with the right hand, twisting the fibers into a thread. In this case, the piece of yarn at the base must be held so that the torsion does not transfer to the main tow and the thickness of the thread does not change
Source I Source II
