Sisters Dairy And Weave Shop Upper Floor Editorial Image

The second floor of the Dairy was added sometime after 1820 and was used as a weave loft. The Sisters wove cloth for clothes, wove rugs, and made bonnets. The constant demand for fabric needed by the ever growing family kept the shuttles flying. Hand weaving was practiced on a large scale until the late 1840s, when the mill at the North Family was constructed. By the mid-1860s the Shakers were purchasing most of their cloth from local mills that wove it to their specifications. By 1920 most Hancock community members had stopped wearing traditional Shaker clothing, and either purchased plain dresses from commercial outlets, or sewed for themselves.