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Spinning a Darn Good Yarn
Written By: A.J. Stewart | Issue: 2019/01 - Winter
The art of weaving is not new. Every culture throughout history has given their unique spin to the ancient art.
The same can be said for Appalachian weaving. Textile art in the Southern Appalachian region is a unique blend of heritage, creativity, and practicality. It’s a beautiful craft, but not an easy one. The journey from raw material to finished product can take six months or more.
It begins with harvesting the material. Some families grew cotton or flax, while others raised sheep for their wool. The cotton and wool would then go through a process called carding. The material would be brushed through two wooden paddles with metal teeth. These paddles soften and strengthen the fibers and pull them into smooth strands. Some industrial textile mills would card large quantities of wool at once on machines, but for many rural families carding was done by hand.
Once the material was carded, it would be spun into thread. The stereotype of an old woman sitting at a spinning wheel was a common sight in the early 19th century, but they weren’t the only ones. Spinning was a family activity. Children would often spin the thread and prepare it for their mother to use on the loom.
The most common Appalachian weaving product was the coverlet. A coverlet is an all-purpose blanket usually used as the top cover on a bed. The average loom was only 42 inches wide, so two coverlets would be sewn together to make a coverlet large enough to cover a king-sized bed. Most Appalachian coverlets are made with a combination of flax and wool, called a linsey-woolsey. The wool provided warmth while the flax linen provided durability.
The textile arts underwent a revival during the early 20th Century as craftsmen and artisans sought to preserve the heritage of handcrafts of their ancestors. This revival is still going strong today. At the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, you can learn a variety of different crafts, including weaving, and experience the history of this unique part of our history. For more information, visit folkschool.org.
