linsey-woolsey

thumb|Colonial American linsey-woolsey Linsey-woolsey (less often, woolsey-linsey or in Scots, '''') is a coarse twill or plain-woven fabric woven with a linen warp and a woollen weft. Similar fabrics woven with a cotton warp and woollen weft in Colonial America were also called linsey-woolsey or wincey. The name derives from a combination of lin (an archaic word for flax, whence "linen") and wool. This textile has been known since ancient times. Known as () in Hebrew, the wearing of this fabric was forbidden in the Torah and hence Jewish law.

==History== Mentions of a linsey-woolsey appear in late medieval sources in the Netherlands, as well as in other north-western European areas in the proceeding couple hundred years. In French, it went by "tiretaine", Danish "thirumtej", and by other names in other languages. These names were anglicised as "turtein" or "tartan" (not to be confused with tartan patterns). Hemp would also have been used together with the linen in warp yarns at this time.