Hopsack fabric is a loosely woven, coarse fabric usually of cotton, linen or wool, and is so-named as hop growers used this weave for their hop carrying bags or ‘baskets’–an anecdote I like the sound of and have heard to be true, though I do not know for sure whether it is.
A plain weave in which two or more warp yarns are woven together for two or more rows and then reversed; as the warps and wefts are of an even density, this creates a pattern of small squares. The basic weave may be augmented by adding interlacings, for a firmer cloth, or by arranging the interlacings in diagonal lines, creating a twill hopsack.
A weave that looks good for all furnishings: lightweight cottons can be used for linings and summer curtains, and heavier cotton, linen and wool hopsack for upholstery, curtains and bedheads.
IMG 0479 Two hopsack type weaves, the one on the left has a thread between to make the hopsack weave more dominant and the one on the right has two chunky threads one way and a wider band or thinner threads the other.