Gathering Flax, Sharing Stories

Journey with author Christiane Seufferlein into Austria’s flax traditions, where dowry chests filled with flax unlock forgotten family histories and have sparked an international revival of flax growing and processing. This story of resilience and the power of fiber to bring communities together initially appeared in the Summer 2025 Spin Off issue. We are delighted to share an excerpt of it with you here. Enjoy!

—Spin Off editors

Flax has been a defining part of my work and everyday life in Austria for over four years now. In 2020, I received a dowry chest of over 175 pounds (80 kilograms) of flax fiber from a woman named Berta. Her son was looking for a good home for his late mother’s wedding dowry. It was far too much to use and spin myself, so I gave it away online, thus sending not only the fibers but also Berta’s story around the world.

What began as a onetime project has now become a way of life for me—collecting flax and stories and then sharing them with a growing community of spinners. So far, over 50 lives that are well documented in textile material are waiting to be written about properly. Sometimes my work even reunites sisters and brings back family heritage.