Appalachia’s Storyteller: The Sack Dress (How Appalachian Women Clothed Their Families) 

I am 77 years old. My mother made me clothing from flour sacks in southern California in the 50's! This frugal trend was not limited to the Appalachian area! I remember Mother being particular about which sacks of flour she bought, so she could get enough of the same print to make a dress out of.

I proudly wore my feed sack dresses! My mother was an excellent seamstress and my dresses, skirts, blouses and shorts were prettier than most store bought clothes. I was born in 1947, my mother was born in 1916.

It wasn't just Appalachian women who used sacks for sewing. My Michigan Mom made dresses for me from feed sacks. I've been told my grandma made diapers for her preemie baby from salt sacks. I remember going to the feed store and picking out the sack with a pretty pattern for a dress.

My great grandmother who died in 1945 at 99 years of age, pieced a quilt out of feed sack material. That quilt top was given to me and I quilted my first ever quilt. It's a lovely, meaningful reminder of my family's history.

Texas and Oklahoma. My daddy says that he didn't have any store-bought clothes until he was around 10 or so. My grandmother sewed so beautifully, and I asked her if she'd teach me. She said "NO! I HATE sewing, but I did it because I HAD to, and now I DON'T have to." We were at a family wedding at the time, she was standing with my grandfather, and both were wearing beautifully tailored and fitted his-and-hers dress suits that she'd made out of the same fabric. Still, I was so impressed, and that's when I started to learn.

Here in UK the feed sacks were just plain white and could be hard to get sometimes. I was born in 1947 when my mother was 39. She had married my father in 1940 and became Stepmother to his 3 children from his first marriage. Life was extremely hard for her as dad was in the Royal Navy and part of the WW2 action. My 3 half siblings were aged 11, 13 and 15 when mum got them and they truly loved her…. Even more so when she gave them their own wee baby to Love and Spoil and dress up in flour sack dresses. Much embroidery was done on those dresses and romper suits with hand smocking etc. all that I have left of those days is one table cloth embroidered with baskets of flowers and ladies in crinoline dresses. And of course there’s the memories, precious memories, worth more than diamonds to me:).

There was no better dish towel than a flour sack! The logos washed right off and they turned white! I still have some, they were a wedding gift made by my husbands old auntie. She wouldn’t give them to to my until after the reception because she didn’t think they were a WORTHY wedding gift! They are beautiful, they were embroidered on one corner and crocheted all around with beautiful variegated thread! I cherish them! They will be passed down to my daughter! Not worthy enough, not likely! Worth more than gold to me!

I was born in 1964. My granny made me a dress from her dress she made and wore to my parents wedding March 21, 1963. Her dress was originally made from ? Yep ! You got it ! A flour sack material . I wish mom would've kept just that one dress. My favorite. 🌼💛🌼💛🌼💛🌼💛🌼

I’m 63 and yes, flour sack material was good quality fabric that everyone reused. My grandmother often made my sister and I shorts and tops to play in and even dresses from flour sacks. We would look at the Sears catalog and show my grandmother a dress we liked, she would use old newspapers to create a pattern and then like magic we had a beautiful new dress.

My mom was born in 1939. Many of her clothes came from feed sacks when she was a child - a baby’s gown was made from a 5 lb sugar sack, a toddler was 2-3 sugar sacks, a small child was 1 100 pound feed sack, an adult’s dress was 4 100 pound feed sacks, etc. Great granny would carefully pick the sacks so they went together, so if there weren’t matching sacks, you used coordinating colors or patterns. My mom still remembers when she had to go to school with a dress that was one color on the front and a different (and not complementary) color on the back. You made do or you did without back then.

This moved me to tears. I’m not from America. However I’m from a very large family by today’s standards and as the oldest girl I got the job of making many of the clothes for myself and my siblings. While learning my skills from my mother she told of how she and her sisters wore flour-sack dresses during the earlier parts of the 1900’s. My mother is in her 90’s. My grandmothers apparently made flour-sack clothes here in my country and they were not as pretty as there. Here it never became a fashionable thing, there were no flower prints, just company labels but was still a huge necessity especially during the depression. I really was touched by this extraordinary video about the innovative and fashionable women who made this a normal part of life during such hard and frugal times. Thank you for taking the time to share this information and transporting me back to my early childhood and the fabulous stories told by my mother.

I loved my flour sack dresses graced with white collars, pipping, rickrack, ruffles, puff sleeves, tie backs, and any other fancy thing Mom could dream up. Thanks for reminding us that thrift can equal beauty and happiness.

Mother made dresses for me from flour sacks. I loved the prints. Sunday dresses she made for me were of dotted swiss, organdy, or taffeta. After my father came home from the war, I had a skirt and shorts made from his whites and a skirt from his blues.

I was watching a YT video about how some companies, during the great depression, would purposely put their flour and grain in printed sacks knowing the women could use the material to make dresses/clothing from it! That's ingenious, considerate and charitable without being patronizing.

Flour sacks were made from better fabric than some fabrics used for clothing. We used ours for many things around our home. Also have used a treadle sewing machine. I’m 71.

Im 71 years old, my mother ( fathers mother) who raised me from birth used to make me dresses and blouses from rice sacks - light beige material- she used take out the sawing ), bleached them , iron the cloth make me a dress or a blouse and some times embroider something on it, I enjoy them and I still remember them with so much love ❤️ This was in Havana, Cuba 1950

I'm 73 and I still remember the little dresses my mother made me from flour sacks. They always had a little white collar and bow in the back that never stayed tied. We moved to a big city when I was eight, but I still wore those dresses. Only now they were decorated with hand stitched smocking that momma had practiced over and over so she could get it just right. One I remember the most she had made me for Easter she crocheted white lace that she run ribbon of yellow down the middle of. The fabric was from a flower sack fabric that had tiny yellow flowers and she added a tiny cap sleeve instead of a puff sleeve. I thought I was something in my new white shoes and white socks with ruffles wearing that dress. That was also the time I got my first piece of real jewelry. My sister bought me a beautiful mustard seed neckless at a discount store that I promptly lost two days later.

I am 72, and sack dresses were a part in our family in the 1950's. I grew up in Southern Oregon. The flour sacks also were used for pillow covers.

My parents were probably 10 years older than my classmate's parents, having been young adults during the depression. In the 50s I remember Mom making me several blouses out of feed sack material. I thought it was a novelty and I loved them. She was an excellent seamstress and made me wool blend sewed-down pleated skirts that rivaled the expensive brands, and then when I started having baby girls they were decked out in the most beautiful little dresses you could imagine. I'm 82 years old and I miss my mom.

My grandma made all my dresses and my cousin's dresses when we were little. She made quilts, curtains and towels. I never knew when I was young we were poor, I just knew she loved making stuff for us. I'd give anything to have a dress like that again. I was born in 1966.

It was not just there,all over the Americas in the rural areas. I had clothing, curtains, tablecloths, tea towels pillow cases. We were happy to have them.

Yeah my mom just turned 85 she said her mother would make her and her sister little dresses out of the flour sacks . It was nice that companies made pretty designs on the sacks

My grandmother did this during the Great Depression for my mom who was born in 1930. Grandma was a talented seamstress by profession so she could make pretty dresses from the flower sacks. They lived in Central Wisconsin.

The best glasses were jelly jars!

I'm soon will be 77 and have worn many flour sack dresses and blouses. The fabric was really pretty. Grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee. My parents were honest, hard working Christians and always helped their neighbors.

Incredible tribute to the hardworking appalachia women

At 76 you can bet I wore flour sack dresses as a kid, and I STILL think they're cute. With several kids my mom sewed and she didn't even need a pattern. We'd browse high-end stores to look at the latest fashions, and then she could just go home and copy the designs from memory when we had what she called 'uptown fabric' to splurge. Anyhow, thrifty ways learned early are hard to shake. Even though I could afford a few nice brand-new ready-made items now, I seldom even feel the desire. Especially not when TinyTown where I retired has a church-run thrift store where everything's just 25 cents. Even if it still has store tags on it. But there's so much very good like-new clothing that I seldom sew anymore. Very few people buy cotton slips around here though, so here's how I hand-sew them for almost nothing: A single flat twin size sheet makes up easily into TWO nice jumper-style cotton slips for a little old lady. I can cut and stitch one up while sitting on the sofa listening to NCIS. I can make lightweight jumpers for summer from the colored ones too, and use them for transitional clothing as the seasons change. No extra top in summer. Short sleeves in fall and spring. Long sleeves in winter. I also raid the clothing dept for things I can easily upscale or even entirely repurpose. And I don't care how ugly or worn out something is, if it has pretty buttons (which can cost around $5-10 a card retail!), Imma take it home, remove and save those gorgeous buttons, and let the garment itself become stuffing for the dog's bed. "Use it up, wear it out; make do or do without." Words to live by. One of the most impressive books I read in my teens was titled: "How to Make Something From Nothing" It was like a hippy's bible. Just fyi: While I also create new and exclusive clothing from pieced-together denim, the handiest use for old jeans is to make a toy for my huntin' dawg, a smooth-coat JRT. I cut off a jeans leg, roll it up tight lengthwise, and knot it in the middle. Then when I throw it for her to catch, she scoops it up from that middle knot and the sides hang down either side of her mouth just like a dead squirrel would. She hasn't written an essay about it yet, but I'm sure that's the association in her mind. Especially since I got a catch away from her (now departed) step sister and rubbed one of these toys around in it. We have tons of squirrels around here, some living in 2 of my giant maple trees. There are days when Brigid turns up her nose completely at kibble bc no thanks, she's dined already.

My Mom used to tell me about how soft and comfortable underwear was that came from feed sacks. I still have the quilt my Great grandma made for my Mom from feed sacks. That makes it about 90 years old.

I am 82 and my mother made baby dresses out of flour sacks. She embroidered the front of dresses. They were beautiful. My dresses were made from cow feed sacks. Beautiful dresses. Cow feed sacks were made with flowers on them.

My mother was born in 1933 in Canada. All the girls in her neighbourhood wore blouses made from bleached flour sacks. The pictures show stylish garments that the girls were proud to have made themselves. Thanks so much for this great video

For someone, like me, who doesn’t come from US but who is interested in historical clothing, that was fascinating and informative. Thank you.

I wont say my age but i wore dresses and underwear made from flour sacks. The material was sturdy and some had really nice colors and print patterns. I have been known to say, i wore so many flower sack panties i started smelling like a dumplin

My momma has her daddy’s baby dress in her cedar chest. It’s also made from a flour sack and it’s very well made! He was born in the 1920’s in Missouri. Thank you for sharing this story with us!

My great grandma was from Arkansas. She sewed all of my dresses when I was little. I loved them so much, that I'd get really mad when I outgrew them and had to pass them down to my little sister.

My precious Momma said that her prettiest dresss were made by feed sacks. My former Mother in in law gave me a quilt made by her Mom. It has to be at least 90 years.

I'm 71. As a little girl in the 1950's, I remember sorting through flour and sugar sacks for matching fabric. After being the container for flour and sugar, the fabric was so soft. That's what I remember.

My mom use to save flour sacks,when flour came in cloth bags. She'd save until she had enough to make 4 girls dresses,one for each of us girls.We were so proud of the flour sack dresses. We wore them to school and church.

I knew that they used flower sacks for clothing back in the day, but I certainly didn’t know all of what you have said here. Thank you.

At 78 I can still remember my grandmother making summer dresses for me from flour sacks. They were cute and comfortable.

I wish they’d go back to that. I love cotton feed sacks and have made some really nice throw pillows out of them.

I wore my share of flour sack dresses and drawers. I am 76 and was the only one in my grade who had them.

My mom said she had a new dress for school because her mom had two sacks that matched. Grandma also made all the night clothes that weren't quite so pretty. When you went to bed you might wear PJ's that said flour or sugar across your bottom.

My mom was born in Oklahoma in 1921 and her mother (b. 1900 in OK) was already making clothes out of flour sacks. The only thing I remember mom talking about was underwear. Thanks for the memories.

I'm Peggy Lynn Smith from Corbin Kentucky I was born in Harlan county Kentucky I lived there till I was 14 then we moved to Corbin Kentucky I love my mountain people and I thank you for these wisdom filled videos it sure gives me joy remembering so many wonderful things my mother could sit down at a sewing machine and make covers and curtains and clothes she was a genius with making something out of nothing and her work was so flawless thank you for that reminder my mother has been gone since March 14 2013 everyday as soon as my eyes open I still miss her and my Daddy there names are Eva Jean and my Daddy name was James Henry Melton God bless you and keep you safe and meet your every need

My Mama and her mama told me about the lovely feed sacks. The clothes were sewn on a old Singer sewing machine using your foot. Later the clothes were made into quilt squares to make quilts. They grew up in TN.

I am 64 and remember pinning up patterns with my mother as a small child! Thank you for the memory!

The dresses the woman wore then are amazing and a lot of the style of dresses are still worn today

I remember when I was young in NE Oklahoma mama would trade feed sacks trying to get two alike to make a dress. LOL that was 70+ years ago

My mother grew up in rural Virginia. She often mentioned that she and her sisters wore cotton feed and flour sack dresses, made by my grandmother, when they were growing up. Now I know what she was talking about. Thank you so much for enlightening us!

My grandmother made beautiful flour sack dresses for my mom and aunts. I was born in the 50s and she made clothes for me until I was about 9 or 10 and then made each of the grandkids gorgeous elaborate quilts.

Yup.we appreciated the cotton prints from flour sacks in 1950 s /1960s. Loved dresses that we made, Canadian born, Ukrainian and rest of folks loved and looked forward to these cotton bags.

I'm 72, I wore feed sack underwear being the only girl with 7 brothers, I got the flour sack material.

Mom mom was the aised in West VA. and always talked about her flour sack dresses

I have a picture of my grandmother, mom and aunt in sack dresses from 1957. She made all of their clothes. And she made her own till the day she passed.

My Louisiana mamma would use Feed / Flour Sacks in the 40’s for my play clothes! She made her own patterns a cute open blouse that tied in a knot at the chest with matching shorts. It made me the princess of my New Orleans neighborhood!

My grandmother made my dresses , tops and shorts out of sack cloth. She was an incredible seamstress. She made most every piece of clothing I ever wore as a child.

My grandma and mother made dresses and quilts from flour sacks. They made me dresses, too. Flour sacks were actually very pretty, all colors and patterns❤ Missouri here.

I’m 64 and I made my daughter’s school clothes in elementary school. My grandmother had saved a lovely flour sack since the 40s for “something special.” She decided that a dress for her Great Granddaughter was pretty special so she gave it to me to make the dress. My daughter was born in 1988 and we still have that dress, soon her daughter will be able to wear it. I think that’s pretty special.

Thank you for this story. Born, raised and still live in Appalachia. My great grandmother made several quilts from feed sacks. They're stored in my living room cupboard to admire and cherish.

My foster mother was raised by a depression era, Oklahoma Dust Bowl refugee. We averaged 20 kids in my teens. We loved the nightgowns she made us out of flour sacks! They were cute and kitschy to us - to her, they were a lifeline to her childhood.

I'm from Iowa so it wasn't just in the hill that people needed cheap ways to clothes their families. I wore many dresses made by my grandmother. I'm 79 now but I remember the pretty dresses I wore.

I am 79 years old in South Carolina at the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains and I wore a lot of dresses made from flour sacks. My mama would always try to get some of the same colors.

My favorite pillow cases are made of flour snacks. They are soft and cool to the touch and I love them! I'm Appalachian by birth so I totally understand and appreciate repurposing materials!

I remember, in the 1970's when I was in elementary school, reading a short story about a family who were farm migrants in the Southwestern USA in the 1930's. The pre-teen daughter had a flour sack dress that she decorated with dots of mecurochrome for her first day at another new school; her dress was complimented by her classmates.

My grandmother had a grocery store and she gave us the sacks with nice prints for my mother to make dresses for me, it was a treat!

I'm 70, and clearly recall a dress my grandma made for me, when I was a little child, from that she called a gunny (flour) sack. I loved the dress because it was so unique, and also because the cloth was so soft.

Thank you for sharing the rich history of Appalachian Women

I had a few! I learned to sew from my grandmother. The quality of the fabric was much better then what they call fabrics today!!

My neighbor across the street, Ms. Rosie, she's 86 and told me about how her and her 14 siblings wore outfits made from the cloth sacks. She told me she remembered when companies would start printing the patterns after they found out what the moms were doing (Country wide, not just one area). So to hear her story, and then to happen upon a video confirming some of the details of her story, is pretty dope. 🤘

I'm 71, and when I was 9 to 11 yrs. old, we lived in rual Louisiana in the early 1960's. My mom gave me the flour sacks to sew with. I sewed on the sewing machine at that age. I made all my doll clothes...blankets, pillows, dresses, bonnets, aprons, and even Barbie and Ken clothes when they came out. Nobody could afford to buy ready-made doll clothes. With mom's sewing scraps and flour sacks I was in designer heaven! Lovely memories!

I am in Southern Illinois. My grandma, who was born in 1914, had a lot of sack cloth left, even when I was a child, in the early 1970s. I had sack cloth pajamas, gowns, dresses, rompers, etc. My dolls had matching clothes. I have a few quilts made from the scraps. We were farm people. We wasted nothing. I proudly carry on that tradition. I use and reuse everything. My favorite quilt is one my grandmother pieced together when she was a teenager. She finished it for me and gave it to me on my 16th birthday. 💜💜💜 I love finding sack cloth goods in thrift stores and at sales. 💜💜💜

Mom told me about flour sack dresses. She lived on the Biltmore Estate on Pine Top Farm .

I grew up with the feed/flour bag dresses and tops. Remember spending a lot of time at the feed store!! Sorting through an endless amount of Sacks.

Back in the early seventies, my parents owned a small grocery store that sold these printed flour sacks. My mother asked her aunt to make me some blouses from them for summer. They were very soft and pretty. I’m 61 now, thx for the memory. ❤️

My grandma always took me with her to the feed store. She let me pick out the patterns because this is what my clothes were made from. I loved it. I wore a coat she made me. Like a coat of many colors. Those were the best days of my life

My mom is 87, and grew up in Illinois and Wisconsin. She was one of 12 siblings, and talked often about the flour sack clothes they sewed.

Thank you for sharing these wonderful ways of life and living stories. I love them ! I never had a feed sack dress. But my Mom made me nighties from old pillow cases when I when I was little. Today I am still learning more and more to reuse and recycle. I have learned to darn socks, sew things, mend things and quilt things. Because of stories like these.

My mother grew up wearing flour sack dresses. She was born in 1919 in Arkansas. Her brothers wore flour sack shirts. The leftover scraps were turned into quilts by my grandmother.

Good info. history. Great sturdy,. Re-use of potato sacks & such ,!! We should do this now. 👍😊👗 Seems the beginning of the "house dress""

I'm 65, I remember my mom and grannie talking about making clothes from those bags. Grannie and grandpa had a farm so there were quite a few bags available to them to use. I apparently wore baby clothes made from the bags.

My grandmother let me pick out a feed sack in 1943 for a new dress. I was so excited.

This was done in California, I remember mom buying flour sacks to make dresses for us girls and shorts for the boys. Love you momma you were a incredible woman.❤️

My mother, by way of Texas and Arizona, used her feed sack dresses from the 40s to make dresses for my sister and me in the early 60s in So Cal. After we grew out of them, they turned into patches, quilt pieces or polishing rags. I still have one little dress of mine, meaning the fabric is around 80 years old - faded but intact. I loved the small prints, which is something in short supply these days.

My grandma who is in heaven tonight talked about making her panties out of flower sacks. She was a nurse and after work she cleaned houses and do sewing. When someone came to her wanting a dress she would make them in exchange for leftover material. She made clothes for her kids and quilts for winter

I am 61 years old. My mother grew up in the absolute southernmost tip of Ohio in Northern Appalachia. She talked about how her mother made clothing - - shirts and dresses - - from sack material! The topic came up one day when she noticed a book I was reading titled Strawberry Girl, by Lois Lenski. In the ensuing discussion about the book, she told me so much of her own childhood being a lot like the book's heroine -- Including sack cloth!

I'm 55 so I didn't have any of the dresses. But my grandmother used the old dresses to make quilts for all of us grand kids. They were beautiful and I still have mine.

Loved this video!! I grew up listening to the stories my mom & Grandmother told about carefully picking out the sacks of flour. My mom & each of her sisters, as they needed a new dress got to go 'shopping' with their mother to pick out the bag of flour with the print fabric they chose! Grandma would then make the dress. Her patterns were made from newspaper that the girls had to lay down on so she could sketch around them!! Thank you so much for bringing back some wonderful memories!! God bless!

Some of those dresses look really nice!

My mother wore sack cloth clothing when she was young. Her mother, my grandmother, was a talented seamstress and mom told me many times how she designed patterns and sewed beautiful dresses from flour sacks for her when she was young. She was the daughter of a poor farmer but always had beautiful dresses to wear growing up thanks to cloth flour bags.

My mother had entered a dance contest held by one of the radio stations in 1950's Texas. She won. Her vote ballots were empty flour sacks of Pioneer Flour. Her competitors had other flour brands. She had over 1,000,000 flour sacks. I still have the glossy of her posing in her two piece ruffled skirt outfit with piles of flour sacks behind her.

Us folk here in the flatwoods of Tennessee know all about clothing made from sacks. I'm 72 and have worn a many shirts made from flour sacks.

I was charmed by these pretty cotton sack dresses. The 1930s summer dresses were so attractive. Here in the UK sacks were made of Hessian which were far too coarse for dresses, etc. They were, however, used as protective covering for labourers, and farm workers. The only cotton bags I remember were the 2lb flour bags. My mother used these for making cheese from sour milk (no fridge) or as jelly bags. They were also used, opened out, as handkerchiefs if one had a heavy cold (no tissues then) and boiled after use. My dresses were handmade with remnants of Liberty cotton bought in the annual sales (my mother would not have been able afford to buy this rather expensive material from the original bolt of fabric) with matching knickers (in US panties). Living on the outskirts of London allowed my mother to shop in the beautiful Liberty's in Regent Street which displayed a lot of artefacts and fabrics from the Far East. You have probably concluded by now that I am ancient - true, I was born in 1932.

My grandmother made feed sack dresses for my mother and aunt In Texas. It was a good way to utilize what was available.

I’m 82 years old I made me skirts from the sacks, wore white blouses, white socks, penny loafers. I loved them. The fabrics were so pretty. Lived in Texas.

Beautiful! A true underrated fashion trend, I love those prints so much. So simple and fun!

I have a quilt made of feed sacks and one I made myself out of feed sacks I got in an antique store. Lovely fabric.

I am 72 years old and my grandmother back in 1956 and 7 still bought her sugar and flour and printed bags.That my sister and I were blessed with because she made us shorts and tops every summer.

My mom was born in a small village/homestead in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico in 1952 and she also wore flour sack dresses sewed by my lovely abuelita.

My granny made my sisters mine and cousins dresses out of flour sacks. You bought remnants in a solid color to make the collar sashes and trim to go with the flowered material sacks. We had beautiful clothes

I am 58 and remember dresses made from flour sacks. Grandma and Mom would make them. Some of the prints were beautiful ❤️. Grandma lived in Eastern Kansas. We lived in the mountains west of Denver.