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Mary Corbet

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I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Linen – Ancient & Definitely Modern

 

Amazon Books

Last February, Benoit Millot directed a short, beautiful, informative movie called Be Linen, promoting the linen industry in Europe. It concentrated on linen, the fiber – its beauty, its uses, its heritage if you will. It’s definitely a movie worth watching if you love linen.

Linen: Modern Uses

Be Linen 2 is Benoit Millot’s second movie on linen, and this time, it’s about modern uses of linen and future plans for linen. It explores the incredible material that linen is and demonstrates uses for this textile that go beyond “textile.”

It’s funny to think that this fabulous fiber that I prefer above any for stitching on can be used to make a hard, shiny, polishable surface. Or a surfboard.

The movie is also fascinating because it shows the ingenuity of the folks in the linen industry and the confidence that they have in the humble (but oh-so-versatile) flax plant. It is certainly a promotional film – promoting this age-old fiber for modern day usage. The subtitle photo from the movie (above, with the surface being polished) really says it all: “we’re not restricted…” Oh, the amazing things can be done with linen!

You can find Be Linen 2 on Vimeo, as well, if you’d rather watch it there.

The movie is in French, with English subtitles.

I hope you enjoy it! And I hope you have a terrific weekend!

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(4) Comments

  1. Thank you Mary. This video “BE LINEN” is very interesting.

    Npw when I will insert my needle on linen fabric, I will know a lot of story about this “magnifique fibre”.
    And, more, this vedeo is registrated in my language. Thanks a lot Mary

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  2. I enjoyed “Be Linen” and “Be Linen 2” immensely—and would never have been further enlightened about one of my favorite natural materials without your recommendation. Thank you, Mary!

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  3. Mary, I have always been inerested in Linen, from the time of taking weaving courses at our local college. You may also be interested in a wonderful book “Magic of Linen”, by Linda Heinrich. She made several trips to Holland and Belgium when she was doing research for the book. It has been reprinted recently and is available through Amazon. The book has a wonderful history section along with weaving information.

    Dianne

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