TYPES OF YARN AND FIBER (BAST):-

Types of yarn and fibers:-

BAST FIBERS :-

Bast fiber is (also called phloem fiber or skin fiber) plant fiber , collected from the phelom ( the inner bark, sometimes called skin) or or bast surrounding the stem of certain dicotyledonous plants. It supports the conductive cells of the economically important, bast fibers are obtained from herbs cultivated in agriculture, as for instance flax, hemp, or remie, but bast fibers from wild plants as stinging nettle and trees such as lime or Linden willow oakoak, wister a and mulberry have also been used in the past. Bast fibers are classified as soft fibers and rare flexible. Fibers from monocotyledonous plants called "leaf fiber" are classified as hard fibers and are stuff. 

fig. Flax stem cross-section, showing location of under lying tissues.

EP=epidermic , C=Cortex, BF=Bast fiber, P=Phloem, X=Xylem, P=Pith

Fig. Women in Southern Norway weaving with lindin bast fiber.

Fig. Ndimbu mask from Tanganyika made with wood, hair and bast fiber.

Since the valuable fibers are located in the phloem ,they must often be separated from the xylem, material (woody core) and sometimes also from the epidermic. The process for this is retting can be performed by micro-organisms either on land (now-a-days the most important) or in water or by chemical (for instance high PH and chelating agents) or by pectinolytic enzymes. In the phloem bast fibers occur in bundles that are glued together by pectins and calcium ions . More intensive retting seperates the fiber bundles into elementry fibers that can be  several centimetre long. Often bast fibers have higher tensile strength, than other kinds. and are used in high-quality textiles (sometimes blends with cotton or synthetics fibers) rope, paper, composite materials and burlap. An important property of bast fiber is that they contains a special structure, the fiber node, they represents a weak point, and give flexibility. Seed hairs such as cotton do not have nodes.

Uses of bast fibers:-

Plants that have been used for bast fiber includes flax (from which linen is made ) hemp, jute, kenaf, kudzu, Linden , milk weed, nettle, okra , paper, mulberry, remie, rosellehemp.

Bast fibers from oak tree, forms the oldest  preserved woven fabrics in the world, it was unearthed at the archeological site at Catalhoyuk in Turkey and dates to 8,000-9,000 years ago.

Bast fibers are processed for use is , carpet yarn, rope, geotextiles (melting or malting ) , traditional carpets , Hessian or burlap, paper ,sack etc. Bast fibers are also  used in the non-woven moulding and composite technology industries for the manufacturing of non-woven mats and carpets , composite board and furniture materials, automobile, door panels, and headliners etc. From pre-historic time through at least the early 20th century bast shoes were woven from bast strips in the forest areas of the Eastern Europe.

Where no other source of tanbarkes available, bast fiber has also been used tanning leather. 

Ref;-https://en.m.wikipedia.org