lorax

It all depends on the part of the plant one uses, and what one is using the fibre for. Cavendish, for example, only produces worthwhile fibre towards the core of the stem. Basjoo is only good for coarse things like canvas, and the texture of it makes it undesirable for garments (but excellent for things like sailcloth and burlap tarpaulin). It isn't so expensive for me, largely because I had a loom to begin with, and a wheel wasn't too hard to come by in a country that still spins most of its fibre by hand. It's mostly the headache of the retting process that makes it a little-used fibre here.

I generally leave my fibre its native colour or dye using indigo or cochineal, and I'm starting to get into Ikat weaving, which is really time consuming but I can sell the cloth for triple a natural tone.