Linsey-woolsey

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Linsey-woolsey (less often, woolsey-linsey or in Scottish English, wincey) is a coarse twill or plain-woven fabric woven with a linen warp and a woollen weft. Similar fabrics woven with a cotton warp and woollen weft in Colonial America were also called linsey-woolsey or wincey.[1][2] The name derives from a combination of lin (an archaic word for flax, whence "linen") and wool. This textile has been known since ancient times; known as Shatnez in Hebrew, the Torah and hence Jewish law explicitly forbid wearing it.[3]

History

The coarse fabric called stuff woven at Kidderminster from the 17th century, originally a wool fabric, may have been of linsey-woolsey construction later on.[4] Linsey-woolsey was an important fabric in the Colonial America due to the relative scarcity of wool in the colonies.[2] Many sources[5] say it was used for whole-cloth quilts, and when parts of the quilt wore out the remains would be cut up and pieced into patchwork quilts. Some sources dispute this[6] and say that the material was too rough and would have been used instead for clothing and occasionally for light blankets. It was also used as a ground fabric for needlepoint.

Linsey-woolsey was valued for its warmth, durability, and cheapness, but not for its looks. In her autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Harriet Jacobs writes, "I have a vivid recollection of the linsey-woolsey dress given to me every winter by Mrs. Flint. How I hated it! It was one of the badges of slavery."

Linsey-woolsey is also sometimes used to refer to 18th century woven coverlets or bed coverings made with a linen warp and woollen weft. The term is sometimes incorrectly applied to glazed textiles.[7]

Linsey-woolsey continues to be woven today in small quantities for historical recreation and Colonial period decorating uses.

Cultural references

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, cited at FreeDictionary.com, retrieved 22 June 2007, and Random House Dictionary, via retrieved 25 June 2007
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Baumgarten, Linda: What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America, Yale University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-300-09580-5, page 96
  3. ↑ "A garment of a Shaatnez mixture shall not come upon you" (Leviticus 19:19); "Do not wear Shaatnez - wool and linen together" (Deuteronomy 22:11).
  4. ↑ See stuff (cloth).
  5. ↑ See Linsey-Woolsey at Quilt.com, retrieved 22 June 2007
  6. ↑ See for example Historic Textile Research & Articles, retrieved 22 June 2007
  7. ↑ Linsey-woolsey compared to glazed fabrics in antique quits
  8. ↑ Random House Dictionary, via retrieved 25 June 2007

References and further reading

  • Baumgarten, Linda: What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America, Yale University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-300-09580-5
  • Tozer, Jane and Sarah Levitt, Fabric of Society: A Century of People and their Clothes 1770-1870, Laura Ashley Press, ISBN 0-9508913-0-4

External links

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