By Nancy Gossell

My mother, a first generation Swedish American, never practiced Swedish death cleaning.    For those unfamiliar with the term, Swedish death cleaning is a method of decluttering to get rid of the stuff neither you nor your family needs after you pass away.

As I emptied my parents’ house to ready it for sale, I discovered a box filled with linens. I immediately recognized woven patterns I had seen in the homes of family members when we were in Sweden.  In my mother’s handwriting, slips of paper identified which immigrant family member the item came from.

To say I was dumbstruck is an understatement.  Mom had several Swedish cousins who wove but I could not recall any mention of weaving done by those who immigrated, including my grandmother who I often spent time with.  

The linens were in good to excellent condition. Quickly doing the math, I realized many were 100+ years old, traveling to their new life in Minneapolis.  

The largest linens had a handsewn seam connecting identical weave patterns precisely together.  Looms back then were constructed wide enough to weave towels, some table coverings and rag rugs.   The bed sheet and tablecloths for dining, discovered in this box, were wider than the 22-26” width of the loom, so meticulous seams connected two identical lengths together.  Talk about pressure to weave with no treadling errors!

In my time spent at the Tingsryd Vävstugan in Småland, Sweden the past two years I have admired the many items on display sewn from damask and various dräll patterns woven there.  Pillows, handbags, cosmetic bags, and stuffed animals are constructed from fine cotton and linen weaving. 

Here is an example of the items one finds at the Tingsryd Vävstugan.

Late fall, 2023, I wrote asking if I could bring  family items woven in Småland to the Tingsryd Vävstugan in 2024 to repurpose. Pictures were included so they knew what I had: 

I hoped to create items that upon being offered to the multigenerational USA descendants of the weavers, their response would be an enthusiastic YES, as opposed to a side glance questioning what would they do with (fill in the blank).

In late January I packed the 9.5 lbs. of woven items to return to Sweden once again.

The first day at the Vävstugan I laid every piece out.  After measuring each item, identifying wear and stains, suggestions and tentative conclusions were made. I left that afternoon with a list of items to purchase at the local Yarn/Fabric/Notions store and research to double check sizes of pillow inserts available in the United States.  

I spent the next 15 days at the Vävstugan cutting, pressing, sewing and baste stitching. Did I mention pressing, often with a wet piece of fabric to add more steam to the linen?  I had never sewn an exterior pillow cover. Thankfully, 50+ years ago I had sewn all my clothes, so I dug deep in recessed memory to baste, cut the fabric to make sure patterns matched at seams and installed zippers.   I conducted silent conversations with my grandmother and grandfather’s sister as I cut the linen woven by them to create new memories from their work.  

One night the last week I was there, the left-over pieces came front and center to my mind.  Was I to leave these pieces to be recycled/ composted in Småland or what could I do with them?  I remembered a handmade drawstring bag I had in my suitcase filled with lavender.  I had a plan.   I was not leaving the pieces in Småland.  This spring I will be creating drawstring pouches and a small handbag or two from the left-over dräll.  

I am extremely happy. The results exceeded my expectations: large and semi-large square pillows, long pillows, neck rolls, pillow cases for sleeping and 4 thick linen twill aprons.  

The “new” pieces of Swedish linen returned to Minnesota from Småland.