All the Fashionable Hunters are wearing Stroud Cloth This season…

Our Spokesmodel Cynthia after a nap on some of the cloth

Red Stroud and Blue Stroud made using this method

Detail of how to whip stitch webbing on

All the stuff you need to make a pair of Stroud Leggings...Smaller blue pot used for clouts/single leggings

Despite the common misconception there wasn’t a native section of a traders store and a “hunters section”. The gear we see The hunters at places like Fort Pitt Buying is the same gear you see being sold to the native customers (and everyone else for that matter). This is the same for the Breechclouts, leggings and matchcoats. To date I have not seen a reference to a “linen” breechcloth or leather leggings being sold to hunters. Commonly the cloth being used for these items are Halfthicks, broadcloth or Stroud. But the focus of this little blurb will be on the common stroud cloth.
This cloth was a common trade item during the majority of the 18th century from Nova Scotia to Louisiana. Named after the region of England it was produced this cloth made in Blue, Red green and black. During the process of making the cloth Webbing was sewn to the edges and when it was dyed these areas remained white. These “lists” or “worms” as they are referred to in the period become a trademark of sorts for this cloth.
At Fort Pitt in the 1760’s this cloth is used by Hunters, Bateau men, native and shopkeepers For everything from the usual Matchcoats, leggings and breechclouts to table cloths in the storehouses and Blanket coats. Here are some examples from the BW&M papers:
March 27, 1765
Alexander Mckee
1 pr Stroud Leggings ..7..6
July 26, 1765
Shawanese To Sundry Acco.
2 Stroud Breech clouts …14..
1 pr Stroud Leggings ,,7,,6
May 1767
William Wright Batteauman
1 pr stroud leggings 8/6
Sept 1 1767
John Vaughn
2 pr stroud leggings 12/6….1’’5’’0
Aug 4 1768
Jacob Drinnen
1 pr red stroud leggings 8”
My goal here Is to Give the basics on making “stroud” look cloth so that. The following method is one that I and Travis Crowder have come up with that works for us thru trial and error. My caveat here is that I’m using Modern Dyes and the cloth in the period went thru a number of procedures not just being clamped and dyed to be called “Stroud” cloth.
If you really want to get into making cloth or learning a lot more about the cloth and a different process of making it yourself check out The Trade cloth Handbook.
Four winds Trading Post
P.O. Box 580
St. Ignatious, Montana 59865
email: ccorey@bigsky.net
If you want to make anything more then a pair of leggings GET THIS BOOK!!!! This is the Method the folks making the $$$expensive$$$ stuff are using.

SO for a basic pair of leggings you’re going to need
1) A yard of 60 inch wide white coat weight wool (washed and ironed).
2) 2 strips of linen/hemp/cotton canvas 2 inches wide by 40 inches long
3) A roll of the dreaded artificial sinew and Scissors
4) Pins and a thick needle
5) 2-3 bottles of liquid Rit dye in either Dark blue or Scarlet
6) A Large aluminum Pot
7) A cup of salt
8) A container to put wet dyed cloth in to transport it
9) Stove or hot plate
Step 1 Ok so the first off along the selvedge edge of the wool fold and pin your piece of canvas so that half is on each side. You should allow a few inches of the canvas to hang off each side about an inch or two.

Step 2 Starting at the edge begin to whip stitch around the canvas using your artificial sinew (leave about 6 inches of sinew hang off the end you start). This should cause the selvedge edge to roll towards you. After about half an inch go back and wrap your extra sinew on the edge of the canvas. This will help keep the dye out. Continue to whip stitch the canvas until you have reached the edge. Make sure you are using tiny stitches and cranking each stitch in place. The tighter the stitches the better!

Step 3 Repeat on the other selvedge edge. When done if you wish you can cut the piece in half. (Or leave as one piece and you have 2 breechclouts worth of Stroud and some scraps for garters etc) Cut it so that the sewn section would act as the top of the legging.

Step 4 Now soak your pieces of cloth in the sink while you prepare the dye pots. Put the pot on the heat source fill with water and dump in all the dye bottles (3 bottles is kind of over kill but it works) and add your cup of salt. Let the temp build up until you have steam rising off he top. Now it’s time to add your wool.

Step 5 Add in a piece of wool to the Dye. You’re going to want to stir this off and on for about half an hour. When the time is up move the cloth to the “wet cloth” container ring out by hand and move it to a place to hang up (preferably somewhere that wont stain the kitchen floor been there done that)

Step 6 Repeat with other legging

Step 7 I hang out the sections to air dry and finishing dripping. From there I throw the pieces into the washing machine and wash them in cold water twice. Then I hang them back out to air dry. Once dry I go along and cut off the threads holding the canvas strips on and once finished you have a piece of Stroud cloth ready for leggings.


Crappy Bibliography
Web resource consulted:
http://www.womenofthefurtrade.com/wst_page8.html

Article consulted
Textile History, 36 (2), 196–234, November 2005
© Pasold Research Fund Ltd 2005 DOI: 10.1179/004049605x61564
From Stroud to Strouds: The Hidden History
of a British Fur Trade Textile1
Cory Willmott

Bayton Wharton and Morgan Day Book (unpublished)
Bayton Wharton and Morgan Microfilm

Super genius consulted: Travis Crowder