UK, Bristol, Studio Flax

Since February 2015, the Studio Flax website has showcased rare linen embroidery threads from the 1960s under the name Linladan, which translates to "flax barn" in Swedish.

Linladan was initially intended as a short project while residing between western Sweden and the Welsh countryside. During her search for old linen founder Tanja discovered traces of a fascinating Swedish embroidery company called Nordiska of Gothenburg. At the time, there was very little information available about the company online. 

Today, we know that Nordiska had a talented in-house design studio and global distribution, operating for over a century. Contrary to what Tanja had been told by institutions and traders, the company's archive was not permanently lost. The patterns were actually safely stored in an old linen factory by the owner, Mr. Leo. 

After two years of searching and numerous dead-end phone calls, Tanya's journey to find the Nordiska archive finally ended when Mr. Leo answered the phone one Saturday in 2017. He confirmed that he had the archive and told me: "I knew you would call one day". He asked when she could visit, and she drove out the next day.

It took about a year to begin reproducing Nordiska's embroidery kits with the assistance of another well-established Swedish embroidery company. Throughout this process, Tanja continued to research, document, and receive great encouragement from the warm and enthusiastic textile community. 

Today Studio Flax operates in the beautiful old town of Bristol, within the Christmas Steps Arts Quarter. This new chapter of the journey is named Studio Flax, as "flax" not only refers to the plant from which their threads are made but also signifies unexpected luck in Swedish. The discovery of a room filled with pristine 50-year-old linen embroidery threads was pure flax.