Industrially Spun Organic Linen Yarn, Safilin, Poland

In October 2020 we were excited to finally lay our eyes and hands on the linen yarn produced from The Linen Project’s 2019 harvest – and the first industrially-spun linen yarn organically cultivated on Dutch soil in many years. 

The Linen Project’s 2019 flax fibres travelled to Poland to be spun into linen yarn at one of the few remaining spinning mills in Europe. Small-scale local processing was commonplace in the Netherlands pre-industrialisation. At the time of this fibre being processed, the majority of commercial European-grown flax is being shipped to Asia for further processing, starting with but not limited to spinning. The Linen Project is actively exploring how to reinstate local production practices, learning by doing. This is one of many ‘first steps’ to come. 

The yarn from The Linen Project’s 2019 harvest is currently being used to explore the potential of a local linen economy; from hand-weavers to small runs of industrially woven textiles, from artisans and independent designers to co-design processes and workshops.