Carding the Wool...and Quiltin' in the Bible!

I'm going to re-teach myself..... Re-Learn an earlier post about flax.... hmnnn

Clothing: fabric production

Clothing in ancient Israel was usually

• woolen fabric, either dyed or in its natural color, or
• linen made from a plant called flax.

Wool was easier to work with, and it took dyes better. It was also waterproof to some extent, giving better protection against the weather. Linen was finer and more expensive.

Women were largely responsible for production of clothes. They

• shared responsibility for tending the animals in the flock
• sorted and carded the wool after the goats and sheep had been shorn
• spun the wool into lengths of yarn
• collected plants and crushed stone for dyes
• wove the fabric using portable looms
• grew and harvested flax for linen.

Their work was by no means finished. When the flax had been harvested they

 

• dried the flax
• carded and spun the flax into either fine or coarse linen strips (linen produced by the Egyptians could be woven finer than the fabric in a modern handkerchief).

prepared dyes of various colors: blue from wood, yellow from pomegranate, lilac from myrtle, etc. Even the poorest Jewish women used vegetable dyes to get a range of colors for the family’s woolen clothes. Flax did not take dye well.


fyi.... I'll find my web source to document this writing, shortly