Until the last quarter of the 19th century, handicrafts in the Estonian village were the prevailing way of providing oneself with tools and commodities, everyday and festive clothing as well as all the other things necessary for life.

There was a certain rhythm and division of labor in practicing handicraft. So weaving with all the preparatory works, as well as making clothes and taking care of them was the women’s business; leather, wood and metal work was the men’s sphere. Work order depended on the season and even on the day of the week; work and its results were related to the changes in the tools and techniques, but also to traditions, beliefs and customs.

For centuries the main materials for textiles were flax and wool, to a certain extent also hemp. Even in the 19th century, yarn from these materials was made by hand, using ancient tools and methods.

The spinning wheel that was invented in the 17th century ousted the time-consuming spindle. At first, upright looms were used at weaving; however, already in the 13th–14th centuries people learned to use looms with horizontal yarn. In the 19th century, the necessary means for warping were improved and became more practical. So the reel, the warping frame and the yarn windle came into use.

The quantity and quality of the material woven in a year’s time mostly depended on the size of the household as well as its wealth, on average up to eight 40–60-ell (1 ell = 0.59 m) pieces of cloth were woven for domestic use, most of them of flax or hemp. Fabric for overcoats and blankets was made woollen or half-woollen.

In places, a belt-weaving technique using wooden plates known already in the Neolithic Period was preserved; by work methods weaving is similar to knitting figured belts.

Due to the cold and damp climate, knitted stockings and mittens were in great demand in Estonia. Women on the islands were especially good at knitting. As elsewhere in Europe, needle technique was the oldest knitting technique in Estonia, which in the 19th century was still in use to a certain extent only on the islands and in southern Estonia. The oldest Estonian object knitted on needles dates back to the 14th century.

Decorating of clothes – hemstitching, embroidering and lace-making – constituted quite a big part of women’s handicraft.

Handicraft techniques, decorative means and ornaments have been greatly influenced by neighbouring peoples as well as urban and manor culture. Through urban and manor artisans a great number of elements of historical art styles reached Estonian handicraft- folk art.

The second half of the 19th century brought about great changes in the way of life in the Estonian village. Besides domestic handicraft, village artisans and home industry became more and more important. Rapid urbanization, developing trading and manufactured goods that could be purchased caused changes in the farm milieu, the obsolescence of centuries-long traditions and giving up a number of former beliefs. With the living space moving to chambers, a new motivation for creative work – home decoration – sprang up. So people started to make abundant handicraft textiles, which had a completely new purpose and appearance.