1m2 vlas registration


Throughout the growing season, you’ll receive practical newsletters with tutorials, gain access to online webinars and have the opportunity to attend inspiring processing days and workshops. By growing flax yourself and experiencing the fascinating journey from seed to stalk, from fiber to fabric, you’ll naturally start to reflect on the current textile and production systems. This project helps you make more conscious and informed choices regarding sustainability.
In 2024, over 800 people participated in 1m2 vlas. Take a look at the Instagram account @_1m2vlas to get an impression of their experiences.
You can follow the entire process from home. Please note that you’ll need a few homemade tools for processing. (See the list of required materials here.) Would you like to use traditional tools? You can join a processing day and a spinning workshop. All necessary tools will be available there. These workshops are organized at various locations across the country. The processing days and spinning workshops are optional and require an additional fee (€5 for a processing day and €60 for a spinning workshop). You can register for these activities at a later date.

Steps
Cultivation*
The flax plant has been grown in our region for centuries. Along with Belgium and Northern France, the Netherlands is one of the world’s largest producers of flax. From the start of the year, it takes approximately 100 days until it’s time to sow. Flax grows for about 100 days, with the harvest usually taking place at the end of July or early August. After harvesting, the flax is laid out in the field to undergo retting, a fermentation process that separates the fibers from the woody parts. Depending on the weather, this process takes about a month. Once retting is complete, the flax is bundled and stored in a dry place.
Processing
On clear, dry days in the autumn, the flax is rippled: the seeds are knocked off the stalks. Next, it’s broken (braked): the stalks are crushed to loosen the woody parts from the fibers. During scutching, the remaining woody pieces are removed from the fibers. Finally, the fibers are heckled: combed into smooth, clean bundles of flax that resemble hair. Interestingly, modern mechanical processing follows the exact same steps, allowing you to fully grasp the traditional process.
From flax to linen
The bundles of long, heckled flax are spun into linen thread: the thinner the thread, the higher the quality of the linen fabric. The shorter fibers are also used but are typically made into more everyday linen products. Finally, the shortest fibers are used to produce items like rope or grain sacks.


Schedule
From March to December, you will receive a monthly newsletter with tutorials. The cultivation and processing process will be guided by Anna Wetzel.
- March – Preparing the field
- April – Sowing
- April 10 – Webinar 1
- May – June – Weeding
- July 10 – Webinar 2
- August / September – Flax processing
- September 11 – Webinar 3
- October / November – Spinning
- December – Weaving
The webinars will be conducted in Dutch. All emails will be sent in English.
1m2 vlas is a project by Crafts Council Nederland and The Linen Project in collaboration with the National Association of Swedish Handicraft Societies. More and more countries are joining in, together we are working to raise awareness about local textiles. 1m2 vlas is made possible with the support of Van de Bilt zaden en vlas B.V.
*Disclaimer: Of course, we hope everyone achieves a great yield, but we cannot guarantee the harvest. This depends on various factors, such as the weather, soil conditions and how the instructions are followed. We do our best to share the information as clearly as possible to give you the best chance of success!
Do you have a question about 1m2 vlas? Feel free to contact us at guusje@craftscouncil.nl.