Linen and the group of Senhora do Monte

These lovely ladies are Elvira, Helena and Fátima, and they are part of the Santa Maria do Monte women's group in the municipality of Arouca. Last week, they came to Saber Fazer to learn how to use their new spinning wheel, which will help them spin the linen they produced this year. In fact, they, as well as the other members of the group, had already visited us last June, at that time with the aim of understanding what a spinning wheel was, how it worked and whether it would indeed be a good purchase for the group. After a demonstration, explanation and almost everyone trying out the wheel, the unanimous decision was that it would be a key piece of equipment to make spinning their linen more productive!

This group from Senhora do Monte was formed as part of the Aroucalnclui Project, coordinated by ADRIMAG, the Association for Rural and Integrated Development of the Montemuro, Arada and Gralheira Mountains. The main objectives of the project are to combat social isolation, recover knowledge and techniques, and promote well-being. These ladies proposed to form a group focused on textiles, initially more focused on crafts such as weaving and embroidery. This is an open and dynamic group, self-managed but supported by the local development association.

The theme of flax cultivation and production for the group arose after a member of the community shared images and memories of flax cultivation in the region, awakening the curiosity to practicing the process again. It is important to note that most of the women had no direct experience with these processes, despite them being part of the local memory and the families of some of them, and that, therefore, for almost all of them, it was the first time they had done the whole process. Of the whole group, only Elvira had learned to spin more than 60 years ago (!), but she had not spun since then. Even so, it was impressive to see how several members of the group quickly grasped how the wheel worked and spun for the first time.
It was a real pleasure to teach them how to spin and see them appreciate a technology that will truly help them!

For their work with linen, we recommended choosing a Louet S10 spinning wheel with double treadle and Irish tension system. We recommended the double treadle because they provide a more comfortable experience and the Irish tension system because it is suitable for spinning harder fibres without elasticity, such as linen.

The group on their first visit to learn about spinning wheels and how they work, including a test drive.

The ladies in the middle of their first flax field

Scutching flax

Flax harvest day

Breaking the flax in a traditional portuguese flax break

Flax sowing day

Images: ADRIMAG