Thrumming (textiles)

Such caps were worn by sailors in the Tudor period, and were commonly dyed blue or brown.

[3] Stuffed mittens (also known in Newfoundland and Labrador, where they are traditionally made, as "thrummed mittens") are thrummed with tufts of fleece to create a warm, fluffy interior which gradually felts with use.

According to Hansen, the technique was largely unknown at the time, being limited to Newfoundland and Labrador and a single family in Maine.

[5] Historically, sailors created mats by pulling thrums through a stiff woven base of burlap or rope.

The writer William Winthrop Kent has conjectured that these mats were a precursor to the technique of rug hooking.

Illustration of an English sailor wearing a thrum cap.
A pair of stuffed or thrummed mittens. The thrums are visible on the outside as pink nodes. In the interior, the thrums blossom into a fluffy texture.