Spinning and knitting would have been a common place everyday activity, as would making and mending.

Spinning is the process required to change wool into useable thread for weaving or knitting. First the fleece needs washing and combing to remove all oils and foreign bodies. Once this has been done spinning can begin. Spinning on a drop spindle would have been a cottage industry, carried out as a common place daily activity within the home.

The product can then be knitted to produce a number of items of clothing. The civil war greatly increased the demand for items such as stockings, which would have worn out relatively quickly.

The seventeenth century was a period of make-do and mending, with clothing being repaired, adjusted and handed down, rather than being thrown away.