Having been led astray, to JoAnn’s craft and fabric store website, I found many things which might prove useful to the casual fly tyer. I started using DMC floss when I was a teenager. DMC cotton floss has little life expectancy when exposed to water &/or fish teeth, which is a drawback for a fly-tying material. DMC wool floss is an altogether better proposition. Sometimes I use DMC (or other) silk, embroidery floss. Today I found something new to me. I discovered DMC in linen. Linen is a most interesting material and it can have very different characteristics depending on how the thread and cloth are made. I find myself wondering if any of you have tried this material and if so, what you think of it. I am interested in the durability and colorfastness, among other things.
I’ve never tried linen, but it sounds like it should be interesting. I find that different fibers can give one unexpectedly different effects and sometimes different is what will trigger a pressured fish. Big fan of natural fibers like silk and wool. Linen might just be the next thing!
For years, fire codes required high rise office buildings, hospitals, etc., have a standpipe system with 1 1/2" linen fire hose. If I is anything like the fabric used there I would venture a guess it is very durable. A little history from firehosesupply.com “In the 1860’s fire hoses started to became available to carry water from hand and later steam pumps to fires. In 1895 the heavy leather hoses were replaced by woven linen fire hoses. When the flax fibers of the linen became wet, they would swell up and cause the hose to become watertight.” I know that is not true the hose leaked like a sieve, but apparently the linen will absorb water and should be good nymph materials.
I quit using the cotton embroidery floss because of very bad experiences with it. I admit that I didn’t coat it with anything. The flies were not ribbed. The bodies I made fell apart because the floss frayed. I have found the DMC wool floss to be durable.
Uncle Jesse, linen was also used to make sails in the Dark Ages or Middle Ages. Doped linen was used to make the covering for airplanes in WW1. I remember from my field crops class and history reading that the qualities of flax fiber vary greatly depending on manufacture and treatment. In that regard it is much like ramie cloth. The best thing to do is to take a page out of ScottP’s book and tie a few flies. For that matter, I might tie some flies with DMC linen floss bodies and mallard posts.
The above link is good for 5 more days. It discusses the early linen industry in Ireland. It shows how laborious the process was and might hint at how variable flax fiber products can be. Remember they range from cigarette papers and bible leaves to heavy sailcloth.
