Spinning, Weaving and Dyeing:

"Homespun" in the Wartime South: "Hurrah for the Homespun Dress" -- (KEY resource!) Notes from Vicki Betts' presentation on homespun, plus articles from Southern newspapers relevant to homespun

History of Home Spinning and Weaving in America

(links to come - in progress)

Skills: Carding, Combing and Preparing Wool:

• Cotton and Wool Cards and Carding: Articles from Southern Civil War newspapers from Vicki Betts' website.
• How to Wash Wool -- from Mielke's Farm website
• Sheep Breeds Grouped by Type of Wool Produced -- from Mielke's Farm website

Skills: Spinning:

• How to spin with a drop spindle - from Grafton Fibers website
• Using a drop spindle -- from Handspinning.com
• Drop spindle spinning -- from Mielke's Farm website
• FAQs about Spinning Wheels - British website
• Selecting a Spinning Wheel -- from Woolery.com
• Parts of the Spinning Wheel -- from www.JoyOfHandspinning.com

Skills: Weaving:

• From Fiber to Fabric -- steps in the weaving process with photos (from Whitchurch Silk Mill website, England)
• Family Heirloom Weavers -- worth a field trip to Red Lion, PA to see their looms at work, reproducing 19th century textiles, ingrain carpeting and overshot coverlets
• Hand Weaving of the Southern Highlands - index of materials in Appalachian State University Library
• Hand Weaving Links from Crafts Online - (handicrafts portal site - mostly links to weavers' websites)\

Skills: Dyeing:

(links to be added)

Natural Dyestuffs:

• Chart showing different colors yielded by different period dyestuffs and mordants.
• Vicki Betts' "Hurrah for the Homespun Dress" section on her website includes a Table of Southern Dyes used during the Civil War, a bibliography of sources cited in compiling this table, and articles mentioning dyestuffs Southern CW era newspapers.

Courses and Workshops:

• Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill (KY) offers a course in "From Sheep to Shawl", as does the Atlanta History Center and Meadow Farm museum and park in Henrico County, VA
• Weaving courses and Spinning Courses at the John C. Campbell Folk School in NC
• Spinning & Weaving Courses at the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College, WV

Suppliers:

• Carolina Homespun, Evington VA: looms, spinning wheels, drop spindles, combs, hand cards, weaving tools, natural dyestuffs, yarns, raw fleeces and fibers.
• Grafton Fibers: (VT) Spinning and weaving equipment
• Mielke's Farm (WI) Spinning, weaving and related craft supplies

Bibliography: (more to come)

American Coverlets & their Weavers: Coverlets from the Collection of Foster and Muriel McCarl (Williamsburg Decorative Arts Series)