Linen adds that natural beauty and improves
its qualities as a fabric with years - the more you use your
linen products the softer, more absorbent they become. Quality
of Russian linen is well known around the world. These items
are authentic; hand made, not machine-made stunning pieces,
something that can be passed down to generations. This Russian
linen will be for sure an excellent addition for your house
decoration and will make your home even more beautiful and cosy.
We are proud to bring this high quality fine linen from Russia,
which will surely create the special atmosphere! Flax
was the most important plant fiber in Bible times because
it was used to make linen. All clothing was made either of
linen or wool. While its production has declined in recent
years due to the superiority of cotton that is more easily
handled by machines, flax remains one of the most important
fiber plants in the world because of the long, strong fibers
found in the outer layers of the stem.
The scientific name of flax is "Linum
usitatissimum". "Usitatissimum" means "most
useful", a suitable appellation for a plant used for
both food and fiber. Flax is sown in the winter in the Middle
East and flowers in the late spring. With sky-blue flowers
that open only in the morning, flax is one of the most beautiful
of all crops when flowering. Linen had several uses in ancient
times. The most obvious was clothing. But other uses were
for wicks and as measuring lines. The man in Ezekiel had a
measuring line made out of linen (flax). The English word
“line” is from the Latin word for flax.
In the 18th century Russia encounters great
economic, social and cultural changes. Peter decides to widen
the flax industry. This is where the story of linen, Russian
linen, begins to really develop.
At first, around 1727, there were fifteen existing
factories that employed 3000 workers, but by 1799 the number
of workers expands to 29,000.
During the 19th century Russia becomes number
one supplier for the European market.
The main fabrics used by nobility and peasantry for everyday
clothes were linen and wool, both made from local materials
and available in a variety of weights and quality. Linen production
was particularly well developed. In the ancient Russian language
there existed two sets of terms for indicating linen fabric:
“hlast”, “holst”, denoting unbleached fabric, and “bel”, “platno”,
denoting bleached linen. Characteristically, during excavations
the remains of the materials not infrequently are found, most
often of all bleached linen (“platno”).
In the beginning of XX century linen industry
let out production on 40 % from total amount of manufacture
of Russia. Russia practically has caught up the advanced capitalist
countries.
Flax has been grown since the beginnings of civilization,
and people all over the world have celebrated its usefulness
throughout the ages.
Now linen is desperately popular. We offer
men and women clothes made of pure linen in the Russian folk
style, fashionable tablecloths and napkins, funny kitchen
accessories.
|
