This is the same museum that Elaine spoke about, just the two different spellings of the twon name. One is Flemish one French. Many towns in Belgium have this, as in Brugge, Bruges.
Jean in Cleveland U.K.
On 27 Nov 2004, at 06:33, Faye Owers wrote:
Hi Elaine,
There is also the National Flax Museum in Kortrijk, a short train trip from
Brugge. It is a very pleasant experience, as they also have some beautiful
lace and costumes displayed in the Museum.
Regards Faye Owers Shearwater Tasmania Australia
[EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2004 11:27 AM Subject: [lace] Re: lace-digest V2004 #370
In a message dated 11/17/2004 5:01:24 PM Pacific Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
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.
Lacemakers who visit Belgium should put the Flax Museum on a list of
important places to visit. This museum is in the city of Courtrai, an
important
market town west of Brussels . There you can see the entire historic
process of
making linen thread, starting with large scale pictures of women and
children
on their hands and knees sowing the tiny flax seeds. The plants were indeed
planted close to each other and staked in order for them to grow tall. Only
tall plants were allowed to grow-- small ones were removed, so there was a
gradual culitvation of taller plants. When the stalks were harvested, they
were
'retted' , that is, soaked in the river Lis that runs through that part of
the
country, The river water is said to have the perfect qualities to soften
the
fibers. After soaking, the stalks are beaten to remove the hard outer
covering
and soften the. inner parts, Alll these procedures are depicted in tableau
scenes of life-size figures of workers dressed in authentic old
clothing.using
antique tools. The scenes show exactly how the flax fibers are turned into
rope, cords, and finally the very fine thread for making lace.
Elaine Merritt The Lace Museum 552 South Murphy Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086
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