Writing about the raid of the Teutonic crusaders against Estonians of Haria at the Loone stronghold (near modern Rapla) at Christmas 1223, the missionary chronicler Henry of Livonia reported:

/.../ Meanwhile, the Germans sent a few of their host to the three smaller strongholds in the neighbourhood, threatening them with warfare if they did not deliver themselves into their hands. And the three strongholds surrendered to the Rigans, sending them tributes and a lot of waypa's (waypas quam plures), during the same inroad. /.../

There must have been a good reason for a foreign and hostile missionary to mention this fact, and, moreover, use the native word for blanket (vaip in modern Estonian) in doing so. Could it be that Estonians were already renowned for this type of textiles as long ago as in the 13th century?

In any case, vaip continues to enjoy a remarkable eminent position on the cognitive maps of many Estonians - a venerated piece of textile work, it is considered a prestigious item of award on a range of occasions.

In Estonian village society, carriage and sleigh blankets for travelling to a wedding or church served as a status symbol. In the mid-1980s an old lady, known for her beautiful embroidery, told the museum people a lovely story. "I was quite young and sensitive in the time when embroidered coverlets became the height of fashion. Our house was so close to the church that we always went there on foot. Nobody could admire and praise the floral designs I had embroidered, because only a few had ever seen them at our house. One Christmas Eve I asked my husband to harness the horse. He gave me a weird look, wondering if I was suggesting that we should skip church. But I talked him into it and then spread the most beautiful blankets I had on the sleigh. Heavens, how all the women stared in awe and talked..."

Lap covers and travel wraps remained important and in use well into the 1930s, but at the same time bedspreads and rugs, followed by wall hangings gradually became more popular. The ornaments created by previous generations continued to serve as examples, but the form and function of the textiles had changed. Thus, it became fashionable in the 1920s to embroider patterns from the midriff blouse of women's folk costume on carpets, while textile belts with traditional ornaments were sewn together into wall hangings.

Estonian professional artists, too, have expressed their creativity in textiles throughout the last century. A sequence of marvellous works from the 1915 Ussikuningas (Serpent King) by Oskar Kallis to the textiles by the late grand old lady Elgi Reemets, such as her depiction of the first Estonian professional singer, Aino Tamm (1977), do not fall into the category of national handicraft, but represent professional art in national style that has emerged from the same roots.

The latest feat along similar lines is the Vapivaip ('Coat of Arms') by Peeter Kuutma carpet studio, designed by Arne Mõttus, in the State Council Hall of the Presidential Palace in Kadriorg.

All in all, compared with men's jobs, the changed living environment in Estonia has treated women's handicraft much more sparingly. Carpets, bedcovers, and to a lesser extent tablecloths and kerchiefs are still woven on looms in some households, and the rug carpets made of long strips of worn-out clothing add cosiness to many a room.