Why isn't thread manufactured today that is as fine as those available in the early lace-making days.
To get fine thread, flax has to be grown very close together, so that it competes for light and nutrients, and becomes long and thin rather than a 'healthier' size. Then this flax, after retting and various other processes has to be spun, which requires a skilled spinner to cope with the fineness (and therefor delicacy) of the thread. When lots of this thread was needed for lace and I presume other things, it was commercially viable to grow and manufacture it. Sadly now, so little is required that it isn't commercially viable.
Your question has come up with lacemakers before, and will again.
In my reading and study of lace history, the commercial viability of very fine linen thread was lost in 1790 when the cotton gin was developed, making cotton thread commercially viable and much cheaper to produce than the linen. The linen supplies that were already in the warehouses were used up by 1830. After that, the only extremely fine threads available were silk, and later, manmade fibers.
At the same time, in 1790, the lace making machines were making themselves felt in the lace industry. The handmade lace industry was already being hurt. So, the very fine linen threads had a reduced market from two sides. The lace machines could not deal with the very fine threads. They had to be stronger to survive the stresses of machine weaving. Production of the fine threads ceased.
I've also heard that the specially cultivated long thin flax varieties were lost when farmers stopped growing them. So, even a hobbyist can not, today, grow a patch of it for self use.
Alice in Oregon -- another overcast, dreary day. More rain is coming.
- To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
