Students get hands-on with sustainable linen production

Students in Winchester learnt the ancient art of flax processing to make linen in a workshop led by a local textile artist and weaver.

Winchester School of Art alumna Alice Hume returned to the university to demonstrate the process to students on the first year of the new Sustainable Luxury Textiles course.

Alice, from Portsmouth, grows flax in public planters in her home city, in Landport Community Garden and at Southsea Green. The plant grows into tall stems with blue flowers and is then picked and dried.

She said: “I started growing flax in 2022, and I couldn’t believe you can grow it in this country – it’s amazing that you can literally grow your own linen. It’s a great feeling to be able to grow your own materials, and it makes you appreciate how much work goes into producing linen.”

Processing flax involves breaking up dried flax stems to reveal the long hair-like fibre inside. These are then combed and woven to create linen.

Course leader Dr Elaine Igoe, Associate Professor of Textiles, said: “There is a lot of work happening to bring flax production back to agriculture in the UK. It grows in just 100 days and can be processed at an industrial scale to create linen cloth for fashion and interiors.

“Today is about showing students some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating textiles, and understanding where it comes from and how you get the fibre.”

Student Leah Yarrow, 20, said: “The course, and sessions like this, make you think deeper about the textile industry, the processes behind making clothes and textiles, and where materials come from.”

Tessia Zhang, 20, added: “I am really interested in textiles and I chose this course in Winchester because I am interested in organic, natural things. Textiles are like a language you can touch and feel, and they can bring back memories.”