how linen fabric is made - it is not made from cotton nt

[msongs]

just imagine when this was all done primarily by hand!

[TygrBright]

1. Yep. That's why it's called "linen" and not "cotton." n/t

[WheelWalker]

2. Exactly. Only cotton is cotton. Everything else is not cotton.

[littlemissmartypants]

3. That was cool. Thanks msongs. ❤

[Fla Dem]

4. Very interesting. How did someone looking at a flax plant one day.....

decide, we can make a fabric out of this? So many steps involved.

[Collimator]

5. It may be necessary to physically restrain me here.

As I am what may be known as a fabric geek. (If such a thing exists.) And I can be annoyingly pedantic on the subject.

It is true that linen has been traditionally made from flax fibers (fibres for our British friends), rather than cotton, but that is not the only reason that it is not called "cotton".

Cotton, like flax, is a fiber. Linen is a weave. Nowadays, linen fabrics are made from blended fibers because "pure" linen is a wrinkle-fest and a bear to keep smooth.

My geekly ear is often irritated when I read or hear the term, "satins and silks" to describe rich fabrics. Satin is a weave and was traditionally made from silk. Nowadays, polysilk is more often found in mid-range fabric stores.

Similarly, velvet is a weave that was also made from silk for centuries. Rayon, the first synthetic fabric-- albeit made from a natural substance--is the predominate fiber featured in store-bought velvets these days.

When the velvet weave is done in cotton fiber, it is known as velveteen, and cotton made with a satin weave is sateen.

I could go on like this, but I risk making people want to gather some hemp fibers to twist into a rope that will be used to shut me up.

This is just what happens when someone brings up fabric.

[KT2000]

6. Do you have a collection

that threatens to move you out of the house?

[Collimator]

7. A fabric collection of monumental proportions?

In the past, yes. I also had a ceramic trivet boasting the words, "She who dies with the most fabric wins."

Today my collection is considerably more modest. However, I do have a book titled "The Encyclopedia of Fabric" that I bought from a college book sale for 25 cents. That is where I read that Alexander the Great's troops first thought that ripe cotton plants were little lambs curled up on a stem.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Like this ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable_Lamb_of_Tartary

[Collimator]

11. Yes.

That may be the actual image from my book. . . I just don't feel like climbing the stairs to verify the information. (Couldn't find a Lazy Person smilely.)

[RobinA]

17. Why Thank You

Very informative. know a little bit about fabrics but not a lot. I didn’t know linen was a weave, I thought it was the flax that made it linen. I did know that sateen was something to do with the weave, but didn’t know it was a satin weave made out of cotton. And I thought velveteen was polyester.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. Uhhh, linen is completely different from cotton.

Just as wool is entirely different.

Linen is made from flax. Cotton is made from cotton. Wool is made from the wool from sheep. Shall I go into detail about things like alpaca and buffalo threads/yarn?

Shall I remind you that chicken is not the same as beef? Or that carrots are not the same as potatoes?

[blaze]

9. And thus, the origin of the term "flaxen hair"

at about 3:40 in the video.

[Collimator]

12. Speaking of "flaxen hair". . .

There are a few lines in the novel Roots which describe Kunta Kinte's thoughts as he first catches sight of a [supposedly] vaunted blonde, white woman for the very first time.

I am paraphrasing here, but he thinks that her skin looks like the underbelly of a toad and her hair resembles dried grass. So much for the "alabaster complexion and golden hair" trope.

[Neema]

13. I love it.

As a pale person myself, I've often wondered why in the hell pale, pasty skin is supposed to be so attractive. Sure, there are some people with truly alabaster or peaches and cream complexions. But my pale skin shows wrinkles, bruises, scars, stretch marks, bites, blemishes, cellulite, rashes, etc. in ALARMING detail. The love of my life is a person of color, and their skin is so beautiful to me. Even in the places that don't see the sun too much (which on my body are downright scary and therefore never see the light of day).

I swear to god every white supremecist always has the grossest, most drab, pale, gray complexion, too. How they think they're superior in any way because of the color of their skin is beyond my comprehension.

[Collimator]

14. Clear, healthy skin is always beautiful.

There's anthropolgical theory that suggests we are innately drawn to it as an indicator of reproductive health and vigor.

Deciding that any one shade of skin is better than any other is definitely an enculturated concept.

BTW, a friend of mine showed me pictures from the wedding of a friend of hers. The bride was a pale, PALE redhead and the groom was a darkly complected African gentleman. The wedding photographer had such a headache trying to keep her from being washed out or him from being "shadowed" out in their pictures together. So inconsiderate of them to find each other attractive.

[Neema]

16. Very inconsiderate! LOL! I'm very familiar with that problem.

There aren't many photos of us where we both look good. Unless you take two exposures and merge them.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. Now I have a greater appreciation of the term "flaxen hair"

Love linen clothes, the drape is lovely, the material feels so nice to wear...altho linen/cotton mix is very nice also.

[Demovictory9]

18. so much specialized equipment... wow.