Today's Repurposeful Monday takes a look at the

interesting history of flour sack fabric.

Until the mid 19th Century goods were shipped in wood crates or barrels.  With the inventions of the cotton gin and the sewing machine it became cheaper to package fine-grain commodities such as flour, sugar and corn meal in fabric bags.

During the Depression fabric sacks rose in popularity as they were repurposed into clothing, kitchen towels and other household items.  Thriftiness became an essential attitude during the 1920s and 1930s and even after our country recovered from the worse economical period in our history, practicality did not go out of fashion.  Fabric sacks remained popular until the 1960s.

Link 

 Two women in feed sack dresses, left, ca 1947,

a typical dress required 3 sacks to complete;

washing instructions on a chicken feed sack, right.

Pattern design companies made repurposing

the sacks a little easier.

Some sacks came with embroidery patterns and sewing

instructions.  Scraps were put to use in quilts.

The Gatherings

Certain brands of the flour sacks actually had

curtain patterns already stamped on them.

By the late 1950s plastic had taken over many forms of packaging.  As our economy prospered the demand for sack fabric greatly diminished and by the 1960s most grain companies were using burlap instead of cloth fabric.

Source

Vintage grain and flour sacks are becoming harder to
find and are quite pricey.  The cost of this 18" x 21"
piece is for sale at $35 - roughly $70 per yard!

Our cost-saving ancestors would have a hard time believing that such a common, humble article would ever be so expensive and valued by collectors.  In today's 'disposable' world it would be nice to return to such a charming option for savings.