Chenille coverlets

Chenille's name comes from the French word for "caterpillar," a nod to the soft, fuzzy lines that often adorn this fabric. But despite their foreign-sounding name, chenille bedspreads were born in teh U.S.A. At the turn of the last century, a Georgia woman made a bedspread for a wedding gift. She sewed muslin with cotton candlewick yarns, then clipped the yarns' ends to make fluffly tufts. It was a sensation, and the technique gained instant popularity. By the 1930s and '40s, chenilles were machine-made, patterns and colors were expanded (orginally white on white), and it seemed every household owned at least one.