Local Linen: Cultivating the Future of Flax

Collab celebrated DesignPhiladelphia 2025 with a hands-on, textile workshop in the Museum’s Learning & Engagement Center.  More than fifty participants transformed flax straw into spinnable fiber, then sewed that thread into a simple Japanese Sashiko mending pattern. Heidi Barr from PA Flax Project and Matthew Addonizio from Approved Textiles led the sustainable, slow-fashion craft and discussed flax-into-linen as a sustainable and ethically-produced textile that can be easily grown in the Philadelphia region.