I spent years growing and processing flax at the Yorktown Victory Center/American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. We would take the retted (partially fermented) and dried stalks, use a brake (like an old paper cutter, but made of wood) to bust up the outer hull, exposing the fibres. Then a swingle or scutching knife is used to remove most of the hull bits. After that, the wad of fibre is basically combed through a series of finer and finer hetchels- like tiny beds of really sharp nails. Every hetchel takes out some of the tow- the shorter, coarser fibres. The coarsest grade contains a lot of hard, twiggy bits of stalk; great for firestarting and mopping up messes in the kitchen. Tolerable for cleaning guns and, once spun, weaving hessian or burlap. The next grade is less prickly and was used for "negro cloth," a burlap used for field slaves' clothing. Excellent for gun cleaning. Successive grades were spun and woven into various finenesses of linen: russia (drilling) for tents and heavy trousers, ozenbrigs (Osnaburg) for working clothes, and so on up to hollands and lawn (for ruffles and kerchiefs and all).
You can grow your own with a handful of seeds from the health food aisle at your grocery store. A 20X20 foot patch will provide all you need. Or check with your local spinning and weaving guild. Sometimes you can get tow free, cheap, or for trade.
Jay
