From flax to linen: The Stahlstown (Pa.) Flax Scutching Festival

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

FROM FLAX TO LINEN: THE STAHLSTOWN (Pa.) FLAX SCUTCHING FESTIVAL

      The making of linen from the fiber flax plant is celebrated by the Stahlstown (PA) Flax Scutching Festival, held in September each year.

     “We actually make linen that day,” said Marilee Pletcher, publicity chairperson.  “We use flax from our own field but when necessary we purchase it from outside sources. The distributors grow their flax the same way we do.”

     When asked if flax is grown in western Pennsylvania, Kathie Plack, who lives in Herminie, said “No. Period.” Outside of historical societies, it is not grown.” Two groups in the eastern United States have grown it in the past, but not commercially, she noted.

     You can’t have a job and raise flax, Plack noted. She once had a 20×20 plot, and lived to regret it. “It is a big job for one person.”

     However, Frank Newell, Stahlstown, planted a small patch of flax in his yard this year, which produced a healthy yield. (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3908451126/in/photostream/  He used seed donated to the Stahlstown (PA) Flax Scutching Festival by Kimberly-Clark Canada, Inc., in 1993. Newell was head of the festival for many years.

     Pletcher said that flax is grown on a small plot, the size of a garden, on the Flax Scutching Festival grounds.

      Pletcher said that fiber flax is grown on a small plot, the size of a garden, on the Flax Scutching Festival grounds at Monticue Grove, in Stahlstown. (photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3907672481/in/photostream/ ) They use the plant in their demonstrations at the festival. The flax is planted in two stages, the first producing ripe flax plants, and the second producing a field of blue flowers, blooming in time for the festival.(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3907672513/in/photostream/)  

Their attempt to grow a “field of blue” for the festival depends on the plant germinating correctly and at the proper time.

The cultivation of flax appears to have originated in India and spread over the whole continent of Asia at a very early period of antiquity. History seems to imply that it was grown in Palestine even before the conquest of that country by the Israelites about 1300 B.C.  In the Old Testament it was one of the crops damaged by thunder and hail as the plague against the Egyptians for confining the Israelites to slavery (Exodus 9:13), and Rahab hid the spies Joshua sent out under flax on her roof (Joshua 2:6).  The process used at the Stahlstown Flax Scutching Festival today was the process used by our ancestors in the New World and the Old World; (1) the harvesting and drying process. (2)  The peeling of the stalks and separation of the fibers, (3) the hackling (heckling) and (4) the weaving of the cloth.*

     The goal of the flax processing procedure is to get the longest fiber possible, because the strength of the flax fiber is in its length, according to Plack. Longer strands produce a more lustrous yarn, while short fibers give a fuzziness that decreases the yarn’s lustrousness.

     “What is good about linen is its shine. There is wax in the fiber. As you wash and press linen, the waxes reflect light. Short fibers intrude on the light because the fuzziness decreases the amount of light reflected,” Plack stated.

    Although the waste from scutching, a step in making flax fiber, can also be used to make fabric that is usable and serviceable, it is not to be worn or made into linens, according to Plack.

     Frank Newell noted that the color of tow linen gave rise to the phrase “tow-headed boy,” used to describe a blonde-haired lad. (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3914508056/in/photostream/

     In Southwestern Pennsylvania it was the Scotch, Irish and German settlers who brought seed to the area. It was known as the “pioneer plant” because settlers planted it as soon as their land was cleared.

     Plack explained that making linen from flax is “very labor intensive. All handwork” from the broadcasting of the seed to the finished linen fabric. She said the seed is broadcast (scattered) rather than planted. Successful broadcasting results in plants that are close together. The weeding is also labor intensive. In addition, the plants need to be protected from storms.

     “It doesn’t spring back (if beat down by storms) because it is a grain. There is no elasticity in the stems. The fiber inside the stem helps hold the plant erect.  A hard rain can ruin it.”

     When the plant is ready for harvesting, it must be pulled from the ground by hand, root and all. It should never be cut, because the roots contain some of the finest flax fibers. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3910673985/   & http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3911455524/in/photostream/

It is then beaten to remove the seeds and after dampening then drying several times in order to loosen the wood center and the outer layer of bark from the flax fibers…

     “The important thing about flax is the retting, according to Pletcher, after which

…the plant is ready for the next operation. This is known as scutching and where the festival gets its name.

This operation occurs in an implement know as the “breaker,” a cantilever made of wooden blades that break the wood fibers of the plant and start the process of loosening them from the threads.  After these wooden-like fibers are broken, the plant is held in the hand, placed against what is know as a scutching board and paddled until the pulp is separated, causing the broken wood fibers to fall out.  It is then ready to be combed.  The strands of flax are then combed through parallel rows of steel spikes, nailed to a board to form what looks like teeth of a comb.  This process will remove bits of the outer wood and bark from the fiber, also any fiber that is unfit for spinning into yarn.  This is the process known as “hackling (heckling).”  The remains of hackling will be strands of fine floss which are now ready to be spun into linen thread.  This spinning operation requires the nimble fingers of women who are skilled in this art.*  

     “I think everyone in the whole world should spin flax,” opined Plack.

     Plack doesn’t participate in the Stahlstown Flax Festival due to other commitments, has tried for years to interest people in spinning flax.

     “There’s not very many of us out here.” She said, noting that current day spinners are under the misconception that spinning is difficult.

     “But if steps are done properly it’s easy,” she said.

     According to Pletcher, most of the volunteers doing the demonstrations at the Flax Scutching Festival need to know how to spin the fibers. These persons include Karen Little and Renee Campbell.

    Spinning wheels made today are not made for flax, Plack said. “Spinners want diversity in their wheel—they are upright with a large orifice to the bobbin, and lose their drive ration to spin larger thread.”

     The differences in the spinning wheels can be overcome, except for the lack of a distaff, a part that is critical for flax spinning. “It is needed for the very long fibers, up to three feet,” Plack said. “Spinners without a distaff don’t learn how to dress (use) the distaff properly. You can spin without a distaff, but it makes a mess and most spinners give up because of themes.” (photo: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3914508366/in/photostream/

& http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3914508504/in/photostream/
     One reason it’s difficult to interest spinners in making linen is that spinners want colors that blend, according to Plack. “With flax, what you see is what you have,” she noted.

    The best linen is determined by the flax fiber length and the shine, according to Plack. To accomplish this, “each step needs to be executed properly in a skilled manner, to make the threads work. Each step is dependent on the previous step to succeed. The Stahlstown Flax Festival does a very good, wonderful job. They show all the steps, tell all about it, celebrate it.”

 *The Official Stahlstown Flax Scutching Festival website: http://flaxscutching.org/

 ADDITIONAL READING:

Flax scutching in Pennsylvania & Europe

THUNDER MOUNTAIN LENAPE NATION POWWOW

RAINBOW’S END Part 1

BEAR STORIES ACROSS THE NATION

THE YOUGHIOGHENY RIVER CRAWL

NORTHERN BAYBERRY YIELDS READY-MADE CANDLES

HOT DOG LIMERICKS

MOXIE: LOVE IT or HATE IT