Sustainable Linen T-Shirts for Women, handmade in France.
Do you know how many steps it takes to make your linen t-shirt?
Or: T-shirts don't grow on trees! The Culture of Linen Linen needs a temperate and humid climate. We find this climate in the north of France: Normandy, and Seine et Marne for example. The cultivation of flax (sowing and growth) in 6 steps:
The sowing of flax
The sowing of flax takes place between March and April. To have a quality flax, it is necessary to respect a rotation of 6 years between each culture of flax. The plant rises for a hundred days, after this period there is the flowering that begins.
The flowering of the flax
It is only during a few hours that you can see the flax flower, because they are ephemeral. It is a beautiful blue flower that is magical. At this time the flax reaches its maximum size.
Pulling out
To better preserve the fiber, the flax grower pulls the fibers out of the ground ? This step is done 5 weeks after the flowering, often during the month of July. The flax is ready to be pulled out when a yellowing of the whole stem is noticed. The pulled out stems are deposited in a windrow on the ground.
The retting
The retting is done between July and September. Under the influence of the rain and the sun, the flax will start to turn red: micro-organisms in the soil decompose the outer stem of the flax. The flax must be turned over several times to allow a homogeneous retting.
The 'taillage'
The 'taillage' is a mechanical operation which does not require water and which allows to separate the fibers used for the textile from the straw of flax. Combing This is a crucial step, as the fibers are sorted and combed into equal sliver of fibers of equal length and fineness. It requires experience and know-how on the part of the people who carry it out.
Spinning
Wet spinning or dry spinning: Dry spinning is reserved for short fibers like cotton. For flax we use the wet spinning method used by our supplier Safilin: Before the actual spinning, the combed flax fibers are stretched and mixed several times to obtain a regular roving. The combed linen fibers are drawn and divided to seek fineness and twisted in water between 60° and 70° to better divide the fibers and have a finer yarn. Then the final tension is applied. This operation requires specific machines and a certain know-how.
All the following steps take place at the same place:
At our partner's place near Pau. Where other manufacturers go back and forth between knitting/dyeing and making: Everything is done without transport between the steps, because everything is made at the same place: at our partner in Pau.
Knitting
Since 2017 we use linen for our t-shirts. At that time we have relaunched the knitting of the linen t-shirt in France with our partner Lepère. Your t-shirt is knitted on old looms...
Finishing treatment or dyeing
Where other manufacturers go back and forth between knitting/dyeing and manufacturing: Everything is done in one place for our t-shirts. Cutting and Making Even the cutting and making are in the same place. The best quality yarn for your women's linen t-shirt! Your linen t-shirt is 95% grown in linen fields in the north of France, the rest comes from Belgium and Holland. The climate of the north of France and the know-how which goes back to several centuries are not delocalizable. The linen that comes from France is known to be one of the best, the fiber is long and rare, because there is only a certain area cultivated per year.
Why is a linen t-shirt sustainable?
Linen is eco-responsible for the following reasons
*Water saving:
the linen does not need to be irrigated to grow: the oceanic climate in the north of France is ideal so that it grows without water contribution: if 1 kg of cotton needs between 5000 and 17000 l is approximately 2500 l for a T-shirt. Against 1kg of flax which needs only about 3000 l (with the transformation): therefore 750 l. Saving 1800 l for one t-shirt.
*Fixation of CO2:
The cultivation of flax allows, by leaving the roots in the soil, to enrich and aerate the soil. The roots also fix the CO2 in the soil, they retain 3,7 tons of CO2 on average in the soil.
*Zero waste:
There is nothing that is lost, everything is exploitable from the plant: During the transformation of the fiber no waste is produced, everything can be used: flax seeds, flax oil, shives (the fragments of the straws) for horticultural mulching or as animal bedding. The thermoregulatory qualities of flax make it a good insulator used in the building industry to make flax wool and agglomerated panels.
* And finally the fiber is compostable at the end of its life:
We use Oekotex certified cotton yarn to make your t-shirt.
There is no label on your piece and it is therefore compostable at the end of its life.
What about the rest of the life cycle of our eco-friendly t-shirt?
Don't forget: The most eco-friendly t-shirt in the world is the one you will use for years? By respecting the washing instructions you can extend the life of your linen t-shirt.