History of Cotton Spinning
USDA’s June 30, 2025 Planted Acres report shows that U.S. cotton growers have planted an estimated 10.1 million acres of upland and Pima cotton in 2025 – a 10% decrease in total acres from 2024.
History of cotton sliver for spinners
There was a time when spinning cotton was simply part of daily life. In colonial households, spinning wheels and spindles were essential tools, used to create the yarn that became clothing, linens, and household textiles. Cotton spinning required patience and skill, but it was a necessity before factory-made yarns became widely available.
As manufactured textiles entered the marketplace, handspinning slowly disappeared from everyday life. Many families gladly retired their wheels, and for generations, cotton spinning techniques were largely forgotten. When handspinning experienced a revival decades later, most spinners turned to wool, a fiber that was plentiful and forgiving for beginners.
Because of this wool-focused revival, spinning wheels were redesigned to accommodate long-staple fibers. Wheels capable of producing the higher speeds needed for cotton spinning became rare. This left cotton spinners searching for ways to adapt equipment and relearn methods that had once been common knowledge.
Today, cotton spinning is experiencing renewed interest as spinners seek historical accuracy, technical mastery, and plant-based fibers. By understanding the evolution of spinning tools and fiber choices, today’s spinners can better appreciate—and successfully spin—this remarkable fiber.
ZOOM LECTURES ABOUT COTTON
Cotton From the Field to the Loom: This lecture varies according to the needs of the audience watching the zoom. Spinners or Weavers? Includes the plants, harvesting and processing the fiber into sliver and then yarn.
How to Select, Use and Weave with Cotton Yarns: This is great for weavers who are concerned about using handspun and commercial cotton yarns.
In the late 60’s and the 70’s when Harry and Olive Linder were teaching and trying to introduce cotton spinning to spinners across the USA, they would go to the cotton gin in Phoenix and purchase a 480 # bale of cotton since there was no carded sliver available for hand spinners. The wheels only had a 6/1 ratio, so the cotton had to be carded on carders and then spun on the slow ratio.
Sally Fox, (Vreseis) came into the cotton pictures in the end of the 60’s, beginning of the 70’s as she was promoting organic brown and green cotton. She really struggled to survive over the chemical companies and big farming but with the help of many thoughtful and good spinners she has developed some wonderful colored cotton for spinners. Sally, like Kay Fielding and Eileen Hallman realized that commercial sliver that was used on electric spinning gins had all the crimp taken out of the fiber. They each started producing and selling cotton sliver that did not have the crimp removed. About the time, Joan was really teaching a lot, all three ladies stopped producing sliver with crimp in it for different personal reasons and Joan was without a resource of good spinning cotton sliver. At that time she founded a source to card “Easy to Spin” cotton sliver that was carded perfectly for hand spinners. For years Jill Holbrook and Lura Moore of Tucson marketed “Easy to Spin” under Brookmoore Creations for Joan but in 2023 the distributorship of “Easy to Spin” changed to Lunatic Fringe Yarn. So, if you want “Easy to Spin” cotton sliver, contact Michele or Katzy at https://lunaticfringeyarns.com.