December 14th, 2007
Nettle Knickers – Underwear with a Sting
No, it’s not April Fool’s day… Farmer’s in the Lothian area of Scotland are being told to cultivate stinging nettles to be turned into textile!
The man preaching this message with a sting is Professor Ray Harwood from De Montfort University, UK.
According to Harwood, the common weed, which grows best in wet climes, could be “a real gold mine.”
He continues, “Cotton production in the world is currently less than consumption, so nettles are therefore a real alternative. The study is still in its early stages but this could be very economically viable.”
Harwood points out that textiles made from nettles were used already in Elizabeth I’s day.
More recently, design student Alex Dear, 23, crafted her own nettle lingerie from German nettles. She says, “I investigated and tested the fibres and had the yarn made up. Just for fun I made the lingerie which I called nettle knickers.”
However, she adds, “[The fabric’s] not terribly comfortable when it’s next to your skin, so anything you made from it would probably have to be lined. It’s a slightly hairy fibre.”
John Playfair, an agricultural contractor from East Lothian, said the idea of farming nettles was a “bit extreme but not beyond reason”.
I think nettle lingerie sounds like something best left to masochists…
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