What Is The History Of Chenille

Chenille is a relatively recent invention compared to most textiles, dating back only to the eighteenth century. Chenille yarn was first made in France using the leno method, where two warp threads are twisted around the weft thread. The resulting material was then cut into strips to make chenille yarn.

Fabric mill foreman Alexander Buchanan was the first person to develop chenille yarn into a fabric, when he developed the textile to make shawls in Scotland in the 1830s. James Templeton and William Quiglay further developed upon Buchanan’s method to make rugs, a process that Templeton later patented.

Craft artisan Catherine Evans from Georgia created a technique for making chenille bedspreads in the late 1800s. The manufacture of chenille quilts became widespread across the United States in the twentieth century using Evans’s process. Evans’s same manufacturing process began being used for carpets, bathroom sets, rugs, and more, and Georgia still designs a large portion of carpeting today.