Linsey-woolsey

Linsey-woolsey

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 woolen weft. Similar fabrics woven with a cotton warp and woolen weft in Colonial America were also called linsey-woolsey or wincey. [American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, cited at [http://www.freedictionary.com FreeDictionary.com] , retrieved 22 June 2007, and Random House Dictionary, via [http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980902] retrieved 25 June 2007] [Baumgarten, Linda: "What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America", Yale University Press, 2002. ISBN 0300095805, p. 96] The name derives form a combination of "linen" and "woolen". This textile has been known since ancient times; the Bible twice explicitly bans Jews from wearing it. ["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).]

History

The coarse fabric call "stuff" woven at Kidderminster from the 17th century, originally a wool fabric, may have been of linsey-woolsey construction later on. [ See stuff (cloth).] Linsey-woolsey was an important fabric in the Colonial America due to the relative scarcity of wool in the colonies. [Baumgarten, "What Clothes Reveal", p. 96] Many sources [See [http://www.quilt.com/History/LinseyWoolsey.html Linsey-Woolsey] at Quilt.com, retrieved 22 June 2007] 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 [See for example [http://www.rabbitgoody.com/research.html Historic Textile Research & Articles] , retrieved 22 June 2007] 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." Lucy Maud Montgomery uses the term "wincey" six times in "Anne of Green Gables" [Random House Dictionary, via [http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980902] retrieved 25 June 2007] : "a very ugly dress of yellowish gray wincey".

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

----Linsey-woolsey is also sometimes used to refer to 18th century woven coverlets or bed coverings made with a linen warp and woolen weft.

ee also

* Stuff (cloth)
* Linen
* Weaving
* Woolen

External links

*gutenberg|no=11030|name=Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
* [http://www.quilt.com/History/LinseyWoolsey.html Quilt.com's history record for linsey-woolsey]
* [http://www.rabbitgoody.com/glossary.htm A longer description of linsey-woolsey]
* [http://www.theantiquescompany.com/SanbornSampler.asp A sample of linsey-woolsey needlepoint]

Notes

References and further reading

*Baumgarten, Linda: "What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America", Yale University Press, 2002, ISBN 0300095805

*Tozer, Jane and Sarah Levitt, "Fabric of Society: A Century of People and their Clothes 1770-1870, Laura Ashley Press, ISBN 0950891304


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • linsey-woolsey — [lin′zē wool′zē] n. pl. linsey woolseys [ME linsy wolsye < lin, linen (see LINE2) + wolle, WOOL + jingling suffix] 1. a coarse cloth made of linen and wool or cotton and wool: also linsey 2. Obs. an incongruous mixture; jumble …   English World dictionary

  • linsey-woolsey — late 15c., originally a cloth woven from LINEN (Cf. linen) and WOOL (Cf. wool); the words altered for the sake of a jingling sound. Linsey is attested from mid 15c., apparently meaning coarse linen fabric. Some sources suggest a connection or… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Linsey-woolsey — Lin sey wool sey (l[i^]n s[y^]*w[oo^]l s[y^]; 277), n. 1. Cloth made of linen and wool, mixed. [1913 Webster] 2. Jargon. [Obs.] Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Linsey-woolsey — Lin sey wool sey, a. Made of linen and wool; hence, of different and unsuitable parts; mean. Johnson. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Linsey-Woolsey — Linsey Woolsey, ein aus England flammender Stoff zu Damenunterröcken; leinwandartig und sehr dicht gewebt aus baumwollener Kette und streichwollenem Schuß, nicht gewalkt und also auch nicht gerauht, aber ganz glatt geschoren, daher ohne Spur von… …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • Linsey-woolsey — (engl., spr. linnßĕ wullßĕ), halbwollener, leinwandartiger, glatt geschorener Stoff zu Hauskleidern; entspricht dem deutschen Beiderwand …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • linsey-woolsey — /lin zee wool zee/, n., pl. linsey woolseys. 1. a coarse fabric woven from linen warp, or sometimes cotton, and coarse wool filling. 2. a garment made from this. 3. Archaic. any mixture that is incongruous or of poor quality; jumble: That last… …   Universalium

  • linsey-woolsey — [ˌlɪnzɪ wʊlzi] noun a strong, coarse fabric with a linen or cotton warp and a woollen weft. Origin C15: from linsey, orig. denoting a coarse linen fabric (prob. from Lindsey, a village in Suffolk) + wool + sey as a rhyming suffix …   English new terms dictionary

  • linsey-woolsey — /lɪnzi ˈwʊlzi/ (say linzee woolzee) noun (plural linsey woolseys) a coarse fabric woven from linen warp and coarse wool filling …  

  • linsey-woolsey — n. a fabric of coarse wool woven on a cotton warp. Etymology: ME f. linsey coarse linen, prob. f. Lindsey in Suffolk + WOOL, with jingling ending …   Useful english dictionary

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