Finely woven unbleached muslin used for sacks of flour up to this day: it's soft, durable, and has a gentle, drapy, quality. In pioneer and rural America, a famous source of fabric for everything from dresses to underwear to quilts: some flour mills capitalized on this fact by printing patterns on the side of the sack opposite the logo. At one time considered the essence of low-class hickdom, flour sacking has come into its own as a craft material, owing to its ability to take embroidery, dye, and other embellishments. Some flour mills are now throwing in the (flour-sack) towel, and selling their sacking by the yard. Funny how that works out.