The primitive products of the loom were square in shape, and when used as garments they were not cut to a pattern or altered, but were worn as they came from the loom. To make a dress, it was only necessary to fasten two of these mats or blankets together, just as the Moki women do now. This combination was then slipped over the head, with one corner on the right shoulder and one under the left, and a belt around the waist. This was the costume complete. There was no fitting the fabric to the body. Thread, cord, twine, and rope were made by the Menominees chiefly out of the “inner bark of the young sprouts of basswood. The bark is removed in sheets and boiled in water to which a large quantity of lye from wood ashes has been added. This softens the fibre and permits the worker to manipulate it without breaking. The shoulder-blade of a deer or other large animal is then nailed or otherwise fastened to an upright post, and through it a hole about an inch in diameter is drilled; through this hole bunches of the boiled bark are pulled backward and forward, from right to left, to remove from it all splinters or other hard fragments. After the fibre has become soft and pliable, bunches of it are hung up in hanks, to be twisted as desired. The manner of making cord or twine, such as is used in weaving mats and for almost all household purposes, is by holding in the left hand the fibre as it is pulled from the hank, and separating it into two parts, which are laid across the thigh. The palm of the right hand is then rolled forward over both so as to tightly twist the pair of strands, when they are permitted to unite and twist into a cord. The twisted end being pushed a little to the right, the next continuous portions of the united strands also are twisted to form a single cord. The same process is followed in all fibre-twisting, even to the finest nettle thread.”[99] In the matter of thread some fine results were obtained by various Amerinds. Holmes says: “The finest threads with which I am acquainted are perhaps not as fine as our number ten ordinary spool-cotton thread, but we are not justified in assuming that more refined work was not done.”[100] Sage-brush, yucca, and other plants were used for making thread and cord. [Illustration: NAVAJO WOMAN AT THE LOOM]