# Stuff (cloth)

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{{Short description|Cloth, especially of worsted}}
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In the context of materials, '''stuff''' can refer to any ''manufactured'' material. This is illustrated from a quote by [Sir Francis Bacon](/source/Sir_Francis_Bacon) in his 1658 publication ''[New Atlantis](/source/New_Atlantis)'': "Wee have also diverse Mechanicall Arts, which you have not; And Stuffes made by them; As Papers, Linnen, Silks, Tissues; dainty Works of Feathers of wonderfull Lustre; excellent Dies, and many others."<ref>''stuff, n.1'', [OED Second edition, 1989](/source/OED_Second_edition%2C_1989); online version September 2011.</ref> In [Coventry](/source/Coventry), those completing seven-year apprenticeships with [stuff merchants](/source/stuff_merchants) were entitled to become [freemen of the city](/source/Freedom_of_the_City).<ref>Adrian Room, "Cash, John (1822–1880)", ''[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref>

One type of stuff was a type of coarse thickly [woven](/source/weaving) [cloth](/source/cloth) manufactured in various places, formerly including [Kidderminster](/source/Kidderminster).  Originally it was probably entirely of [wool](/source/wool), but later a "[woolsey-linsey](/source/linsey-woolsey)" cloth, made with a [warp](/source/warp_(weaving)) of [linen](/source/linen) [yarn](/source/yarn) and a [worsted](/source/worsted) [weft](/source/weft).

The gowns of most English lawyers are still described as "stuff gowns" (though probably now made of other [fibre](/source/fibre)s).  This is in contrast with those of [King's Counsel](/source/King's_Counsel), which are made of [silk](/source/silk), whence they are termed "silks". Thus, "stuff" in this context refers to fabric not made of silk or silk substitutes. The word was still in English upper-class usage in this sense in the 1960s.

In [Victorian](/source/Victorian_era) [dressmaking](/source/dressmaking) terminology, ''stuff'' was used as a generic term for woven fabrics, with ''cloth'' generally reserved for [woollen](/source/woollen)s (as opposed to [worsted](/source/worsted)s).{{#tag:ref|For example, lines from an 1893 handbook: "Sash strings [for a baby's gown] must be taken from the width of the stuff.";<ref>{{cite book|last=Rosevear|first=Elizabeth|title=A text-book of needlework, knitting and cutting out|url=https://archive.org/details/textbookofneedle1893rose|publisher=Macmillan|year=1893|pages=[https://archive.org/details/textbookofneedle1893rose/page/374 374]}}</ref> "if a [Calico](/source/Calico_(fabric)), Print, Galatea, [Drill](/source/Drill_(fabric)), [Zephyr](/source/Zephyr_cloth), or Cloth garment, the hems must be neatly hemmed, or machine stitched."<ref>{{cite book|last=Rosevear|first=Elizabeth|title=A text-book of needlework, knitting and cutting out|url=https://archive.org/details/textbookofneedle1893rose|publisher=Macmillan|year=1893|pages=[https://archive.org/details/textbookofneedle1893rose/page/300 300]}}</ref> 
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==Kidderminster==
Manufacture of Kidderminster stuff was established by the mid-17th century, when it was referred to by [Richard Baxter](/source/Richard_Baxter), the [puritan](/source/puritan) divine, who was lecturer in the parish church of Kidderminster from 1641, and then vicar in the 1650s.  The cloth was used for wall hangings and furniture fabrics.<ref>N. Gilbert, ''A History of Kidderminster'' (Phillimore, Chichester 2004), 35-43.</ref>  In 1671, an Act of Parliament was obtained for preventing 'abuses and deceits in making Kidderminster stuffs'. This directed that the master weavers should yearly elect a President, four Wardens and eight Assistants to make byelaws for the trade.  This body was responsible for regulating all cloth manufacture in the parish, whether with wool only or with wool and other materials.  The Act specifically mentions [linen](/source/linen) [yarn](/source/yarn) being 'reeled on a reel four yards about' and sold by the 'lea' containing 200 threads.<ref>J. R. Burton, ''A History of Kidderminster'' (1890), 176-80.</ref>  In the early 18th century, the range of [textile](/source/textile)s made in Kidderminster broadened with [bombazine](/source/bombazine) (with a silk warp and worsted weft) also being produced.  The traditional stuff trade declined in the late 18th century with the rise of cotton fabrics.  However Kidderminster continued to be a textile town, but in the 19th and 20th centuries specialised in carpets.  The olden stuff trade was essentially extinct by 1815.<ref>Gilbert, 55-6 59-60 66-70 77</ref>

==Elsewhere==
[Norwich](/source/Norwich), [Darlington](/source/Darlington), and the West Riding of [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire) were also English centres for the manufacture of [worsted](/source/worsted) textiles, including stuffs.<ref>John James, ''History of the Worsted Manufacture in England'' (1857), passim.  (substantial extract accessible via [Google books](/source/Google_books)); also [http://www.durhampast.net/textiles_1.html Durham Past]</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{fabric}}

Category:Woven fabrics

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stuff (cloth)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuff_(cloth)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuff_(cloth)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.