In 2023  The Linen Project collaborated with Enschede Textielstad and made these beautiful Linen Kavels from the flax harvest. I used the Kavels as a base for my project, ‘From Seed to Scarf’, where I explored the two raw materials, flax, and madder root, that were highly produced in the early days around Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands, where I’m from. This production has stopped due to industrialization and climate change.

This scarf is locally made with love, community, time, and care. It is grown and harvested at de Horsterhof in Duiven, Netherlands. Woven by Enschede Textielstad. Naturally scoured and mordanted with Oak galls. Silkscreened with Madder root dye in Rotterdam and made into a scarf in Amsterdam. Because of its natural processes, every scarf is unique and has different hues in the fabric and the print. 

You can wear it on the field to protect your hair from the rain or to protect yourself against the sun, meanwhile, the print guides you through the process from flax seed to linen fabric.

Are you done wearing the scarf, and did it have its best life? You can compost it in the soil and give it back to nature, as it is 100% natural. 

This project started during my ‘Shared Stewardship’ in 2021 and 2022, initiated by The Linen Project. As a community, we shared the stewardship for a year-long process of cultivating flax at the organic farm De Horsterhof, Duiven.‘From Seed to Scarf’ would not exist without ‘The Shared Stewardship’ of ‘The Linen Project’. 

Thank you to all the Linen Stewards of 2021/2022 for all the insights, knowledge, help, and good talks on the field.

Credits:
Photos - Guusje de Bruin
Model - Rosanne van Wijk
Silkscreen print assistant- Sarah Kerbosch