dimity, fustian and....hessian

There is a fascinating chapter on home spinning/weaving and the birth of cotton spinning in:

Home Life in Colonial Days  by  Alice  Morse EARLE (1851 - 1911)

You can listen to it online by following this link:

https://librivox.org/home-life-in-colonial-days-by-alice-morse-earle/

Thinking of fabric, the other day when I travelled to the Blackdown Hills and spoke with members of the Hemyock Brightside Group, they brought home to me just how significant hessian has been, as a fabric in this farming area. Not only was it used as a base for rag rug making, it was also put down on the floor unadorned, just as it was, to protect the floors from dirt and mud. Hessian sacks were also adapted to be worn as clothing to give some protection against the elements and during threshing times. And a woman I met on the bus journey to Hemyock, recalled using large needles to sew hessian into sacks on the farm where she grew up.