rial made from coarse yarn. It
is soft but rather clumsy. A general term used to designate cloth spun
or wrought at home. The homespun of the present day is a woolen fabric
in imitation of those fabrics made by hand before the introduction of
textile machinery. It is made of a coarse, rough, and uneven thread;
usually of plain weave and no felting. It was woven by the early
settlers of the Eastern and Southern States. It is now used as woolen
suiting for men's wear and in various kinds of coarse, spongy, shaggy
cloth for women's gowns.

=Hop Sacking.= A coarse bagging made commonly of a combination of hemp
and jute, used for holding hops during transportation. The name hop
sacking is also applied to a variety of woolen dress goods made from
different classes of yarn. It is made of carded woolen fabric of the
plainest kind. The cloth is characterized by an open weave, and a
square check-like mesh, the structure being designed to imitate that
of the coarse jute bagging. It has very little finish, is usually dyed
in solid colors, and is used for women's and children's dresses.

=Jeans.= Cotton or woolen coarse twilled fabric. In cotton used for
linings, in wool for men's cheap clothing. The name is from a Genoese
coin, relating to the price of the cloth; so much for one jean.

=Kersey.= A very heavy, felted, satin finish woolen cloth made with
the cotton weave or cross twill for face, and cotton weave or four
harness satin for back. It was originally made with fine Merino lamb's
wool for face, and somewhat coarser grade for back. The cheaper grades
are manufactured from a fine-fibered wool and shoddy, with low grades
of shoddy and mungo for back. It is named from an English town,
Kersey, where from the eleventh to the fifteenth century a large
woolen trade was carried on. The Kersey of early history was a coarse
cloth, known under different names, and before knitting was used for
stockings. In the construction of Kersey the cloth is woven a few
inches wider in the loom (and correspondingly longer) than it is to
appear in the finished state. This is done in order that the meshes
may be closed up in the fulling mill to insure a covering of threads.
Previous to fulling, however, the face of the cloth is gigged to
produce a good covering for the threads by forming a light nap, which
is fitted in. In the fulling operation, which comes next, the cloth is
shrunk to its proper width and density, usually to a degree rendering
it