In the past, agriculture was used not only for subsistence but also to obtain raw materials for clothing. Almost every woman knew how to process hemp and flax – harvesting, drying, soaking, cleaning, breaking and spinning. The prepared skein was taken to the weavers who wove it into cloth at home. The finest linen was used for festive clothing, the coarser linen for work clothes and bedding, and the coarsest linen was used for sewing bags and sails for agriculture.