Flax Growing and Spinning Project

Aug 8, 2024

In 2019, we embarked on an epic flax growing, processing, and spinning project. Initiated by Emi Fujisawa, our Art and Craft, Weavery, and Ceramic Workshops leader, the long journey has been a true collaboration across our workshops, which also include our Gardens and Tools for Self-Reliance.

Keen to proceed with the experimental growing and processing of flax fibres at Camphill, we supported Emi in training on flax fibres at Flaxland—UK Natural Fibres in the Cotswolds in 2021. Soon after, we started to grow flax plants on a large bed in our Gardens. Participants helped prepare the flax bed, sow seeds, weed, and water.

In 2022, we saw our first harvest and seed-saving event. We left the flax plants in the ground for 4-6 weeks and then let them dry. This is an essential aspect of the retting process, which is used to make flax fibre.

At the beginning of 2023, we started making flax fibres in the Weavery Workshop. In September 2023, we also demonstrated our flax fibre project at the Heritage Open Day at Camphill MK. We also started giving our homegrown seeds to local people interested in growing flax plants. 2023 also saw Emi selected for an art residency in Northampton, showing the flax process and how different soil can affect the processed flax colour. You can view that project here.

In January 2024, we set up a natural weaving workshop. Every Thursday, residents work on the flax project. The group works on all the processes throughout the year to process flax fibres: preparing the growing beds, sowing seeds, weeding by hand, watering, and making fibres.

Our Tools for Self-Reliance Workshop greatly helped us create our special flax blocks, which are essential for processing the dried flax fibres. We also set up a loom dedicated to our flax threads. The process is slow and methodical and is an excellent exercise for people with learning disabilities and autism.

In July 2024, we delivered a flax fibre workshop at the Festival of Camphill. Emi and the team wanted to introduce our unique techniques. All participants (from 17 Camphill Communities in the UK and Ireland) said that they never tried the flax process and enjoyed attending the workshops. Bringing new skills to communities, setting up a new workshop, and supporting them in developing new skills are very beneficial. We gave them our flax fibre process leaflet and seeds to start growing their gardens. We really hope they do and can’t wait to see their progress.

As part of the Festival of Camphill, our Natural Weaving Workshop also used our homegrown willow to create a three-dimensional Camphill angel. The sculpture worked as decoration for the festival. Our Gardens Workshop created a special soaking pond for willows, which is essential in manipulating the willow to bend according to our design. The Camphill Willow Angel is a permanent feature at our Willen site, located at the front of our Café.