[2] Nylén was born on March 24, 1912, in Dalby parish in northern Värmland.

[5] In 1961, she became the head of the Nordic Museum's Etnologiska undersökningen (ethnological investigation section).

In 1965, she became head of a recently created costumes and textiles section at the Nordic Museum.

Later, in 1969, her book Svensk hemslojd (in English Swedish Handcraft) was published; as of the year 2000, it was a standard work on pre-industrial craft.

[6][2] In 1973, she became the first professionally-engaged woman elected to The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy for Swedish Folk Culture.