Cloth made from the fibers of flax is called linen. The stems of the plant are soaked and beaten to break up the hay-like husk. The strong and flexible fibers are then spun and woven. The mills in Lowell, Massachusetts were primarily cotton textile mills. Lawrence, Massachusetts, had large woolen textile mills.
Many people today wear fabrics such as nylon or polyester.
Sometimes polyester or nylon are blended with other fibers. Create a graph to compare where clothes are made and what fabrics they are made out of. As an exercise in estimating, have students estimate where most of their clothes will be from. Discuss what they base their estimates on. Check their predictions.