Title: Making Cloth - Role of women in colonial America
Headings: 
clothing their family
Content: Making Cloth - Role of women in colonial America







clothing their family
Sewing and weaving were yet another task that fell onto the women. For almost two centuries the majority of the preparation of material for clothing was done by the family; the spinning, weaving, dyeing, and making of thread preceded the creation of a garment (Holliday, 1960). The spinning and sewing were done in the spring and winter (Jamestown, n.d.). The colonists grew and harvested the flax plant to make cloth. Linen was the first material that was used in the colonies because flax could be planted in May and harvested at the end of June (Tunis, 1957). The tough fibers inside of the flax plant were spun on a spinning wheel to create the linen thread (Jamestown, n.d.). If a woman was a quick spinner she could spin six skeins of yarn a day. However, spinning was a very tiresome job. The backward and forward movement that is required to run a spinner was very quick and active.