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Post by paweaver on Jun 9, 2011 8:00:44 GMT -5
A friend of mine just did a flax spinning demo at a health food store. I was not able to go, but I stopped in later. Wow! the store owner had some really cool stuff. She had all kinds of small woven hemp samples. Some were 100% hemp. Others were blends- hemp and cotton, hemp and wool, hemp and silk, and also hemp and linen. Did you know the first US flag was woven out of hemp? The first blue jeans were also made from hemp. Hemp clothing is making a great come back, however, the US outlawed growing hemp in the 70's. Guess why! I've always studied flax and linen, but now I'm wondering and have a thousand questions on hemp. lol Does anyone here know how popular it was for clothing? I knew it was used for straps and bags. It looks like I have a lot of studying to do. I was able to purchase some hemp for spinning off my friend. She says that it spins up just like linen and that most people would not know the difference in the finished project. I do know that it cost a lot less than flax fiber for spinning. Next year I hope to plant a small flax plot. I've been told to do it while I still have "help" (read kids) because it is a lot of work. lol It used to be grown on my father-in-law's farm. They use to take their flax to the train station. I have a old hackle from the farm. My father helped restore it so that I can use it. You would of had several different sizes of these. Different spacing between the spikes or teeth. I wonder if there would be a market for hand spun and woven hemp and linen? I must be a glutton for punishment. lol I'm not sure that I could really make money on it. I'm off on a "new" old journey of learning. lol paweaver
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Post by beaudro on Jun 9, 2011 14:43:40 GMT -5
If your interested in hempen clothing you can search the virginia runaway ads. etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-costa?specfile=/web/data/users/costa/costa.o2w This is what good reenactors and researchers use a lot for linen and hemp. The book "textiles in america" is a must for anyone working with fiber and historic textiles. Just a warning but when people read the runaway ads they will automatically assume that hemp was a cheap product, a coarse fabric, a fabric that is only good enough for slaves, etc, etc. That is not true, hemp was produced as fine as any linen could be. It was used for many finer fabrics, it was strong enough for sail cloth as well. The history of hemp doesn't start in America, but it was a sucessful crop in many states and we almost became independent with it. It is not actually illegal to produce in the United States , but it is so controlled and expensive that no profit can be made from it. The fiber producing hemp is a different variety than the cannabis that is smoked. But there has been many changes in the strains over the years and cross pollenating has introduced new varieties. The original hemp did not contain significant amounts of THC and would do no good to smoke it , but early in the years a variety believed to have come from south america was introduced and the plague of potheads started. Now only a few European countries can afford to grow it. Cotton replaced hemp and linen, very soon, in the early 1800's you can see hemp and linen fading away. During the 1860's cotton producers pushed on congress to increase their sales and hemp and flax linen dropped more and more, by the early 1900's cotton had pretty much taken over. No more sailing vessels meant no more hemp canvas , which took a big bite out of hemp. I buy hemp fabric from www.hemptraders.com/index.php?cPath=21 There are a few more places, but thats the most common. The hippy culture helps keep this alive, there isn't much of a demand in the reenactor community because only a handful will spend the extra money for hemp or good linen, too many cheat and use cotton instead. Flax can be grown in your backyard , i know of a few that are doing it for producing fabric , they work pretty hard at it and it's time consuming as it ever was. Each step is an art of it's own. There is a difference in the type of flax you want to grow for fiber, it's the long fibers that you want. A little research will tell you what variety you want to grow for either oil or fiber/fabric. That is another problem, todays industry that produces fabric from flax or hemp will utilize new machines , the same machines that work cotton fiber, so the benefit of using long fibers is lost as they are cut down anyway. At home however, you can utilize the long fibers if done right.
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Post by intothewest1836 on Jun 9, 2011 15:12:30 GMT -5
i cant spell the word but when you take the dried flax and work it called wretting i think. if you save what falls out i would like to buy that from you. i make paper with it.
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Post by Cody ( The Patriot ) on Jun 9, 2011 17:17:13 GMT -5
Ive seen hemp being pulled up on TV by the DEA and it looks tall as crn stalks ,does flax get that tall?What does the fabric of linin and hemp feel like?What is the difference in jute and hemp
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Post by paweaver on Jun 23, 2011 10:28:57 GMT -5
Sorry about the late replies. Thundermoon. Cool! I had not thought about sails being made from hemp. But of course they were. beaudro, I have looked longing at the hemptraders site many times. Thanks for the link about the slaves. Very interesting! It is very frustrating that they are cutting and braking the long fiber of hemp and flax for a weaker product. Leave it to man..... Intothewest, I will try to remember that you want it when I get that far, but no promises. lol I can be forgetful. Cody, That was the cool thing about being able to handle the samples. They had 100 % woven hemp that you would of guessed was silk, and others that you would of guessed cotton. Of course they had samples of coarse hemp too. It all depends on how fine you process it. Today flax (linen) is grown for many reasons: flower, seed, and oil are the main reason. To few spinners. So man has developed the seeds to produce more or better in these areas. If you want it for fiber you have to be very careful where you buy it. I understand that you can get fiber from all of it, but not the long fiber that is so well know for its strength. I've seen pics of it shoulder height, but since I've never seen it in person??? Actually, hemp is grown for many other reasons besides fiber too. I was amazed at all the hemp products on the shelf at the store where I saw the samples. I had no idea that hemp was used in so many ways. I really don't know a whole lot about jute, and how it is made. However, I can tell you that jute is a much weaker fiber than hemp and linen. Now you made me curious and I will have to do some research. lol It might just be made from shorter fibers? Here are some pics. My bundle of hemp. Close up ] I wet spun it on my spinning wheel. It was fun. This was my first time ever to try wet spinning and also my first try at spinning a planet fiber. Up close I had so much fun. Someday I might have to explore trying to sell what I spin.
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Post by Cody ( The Patriot ) on Jun 23, 2011 13:48:33 GMT -5
Your amazing sister
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Post by ThunderMoon on Jun 23, 2011 20:14:42 GMT -5
Need to get macramey popular again,back in the 70s my buddy could make amazing things...How do ya spell MAC-RO-MEY..lol
I don't think you would have a problem ata all selling what you do..
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Post by beaudro on Jun 24, 2011 1:02:28 GMT -5
As said , the book "textiles in america" is probably the best information on fabrics. You can load it on kindle or other readers cheap , the hardback is rather expensive. There is a section on homespun that shows how flax and hemp is processed and the many blends that were invented as time goes on. You'll find that many times the word linen is misrepresented. Today we call cotton bed sheets "linen", in the early 19th century the word "hemp linen" is used a few times when referring to bed sheets. Russian sheeting is hemp , thats what sail cloth is made from. It's not bed sheet , it's only called sheeting because of it's large size and no seams. Oilcloth was generally hemp fabric, several times it's called russian sheeting. Jute, manilla, thistle, and sisal can be made as strong as flax and hemp , but they are too coarse a fiber to be used for clothing. Rope was preferred in these fibers for their strength and resistance to rot , when hemp was used for rope it was generally covered in pine tar pitch to avoid rotting.
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Post by intothewest1836 on Jun 24, 2011 1:32:41 GMT -5
i have grew flax and used it for my paper making. i do not know why some thing like making paper got to be a hobbie round here it dont seem importunt but real paper is real nice. my wife uses it for her group woft. it was a trade good. you cant buy real linen paper its fake. i have over 100 hides a year i finish and do my brass casting but making paper just got to be the hobbie. i need the bast fiber. it has the cellose to make the paper. it best taking before retting or any water washes the good cellose away.
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Post by ThunderMoon on Jun 24, 2011 20:49:24 GMT -5
I've seen paper made out of the int from your dryer..Mixed in water and something else for bonding and then pressed into paper..
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Post by intothewest1836 on Jun 26, 2011 1:57:34 GMT -5
why would i want to use dryer lint if im trying to make laid linen paper.
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Post by ThunderMoon on Jun 26, 2011 17:07:31 GMT -5
I don't know
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