Flax Fibers

Drawn from the stems of wild flax, these fibers are long, pale, and surprisingly strong for how fine they look. Left as they are they are little more than a loose handful of straw-colored thread, but retted, spun, and set on a loom they become plain linen — cool, breathable, and forgiving.

They are the first fibers worth truly weaving rather than merely enduring: a clean step up from coarse hemp sacking, and the plain cloth on which a tailor learns to make something people are glad to wear.