At home in Beauce, if you follow the thread of linen, your steps will lead you happily to the “Grenier du lin” (the attic of linen), installed on the second floor of the house of “Les Créativités Beauceronnes” in the village of Notre-Dame-des-Pins. The one who lives there, Francine Paquet, will tell you the story of domestic flax, which was once woven within our families. Our mothers and grandmothers grew flax at home. They teached their know-how knowledge to share the good practice. When to sow flax and harvest it? How to make better this raw canvas, rough, hard wearing, used everyday that comes from a plant? Flax was at this time at the heart of social practices and women were doing chore crushing, as we can see on old photos.
With Francine, you will discover the work in field and the various steps of the transformation of flax. This work is divide into 10 steps that allow you to go from seed to the linen toile. Seeds and its variety, plucking, spinning, weaving, among others, are exhibited, in a real way and in photography. Thus, you will be able to see the agricultural instruments of that era, although it seems to be so far from us, in fact, it is not. You will see her at heer spinning wheel or on her warper, rolling the linen thread. This ancient knowledge, which is a precious part of our cultural, material and immaterial heritage, remains a fascinating subject. Of course, lovers of linen have in common this momentum towards the natural and the things that give a sens to life.