In woven textiles, the first step is preparing fiber, which can come from plants, such as cotton or maguey, or animals, such as wool from sheep. In Mesoamerica, only plant fibers were used before European contact. The loose fibers are spun into threads by hand, with spindles, a long stick-like device for holding the thread, and whorls, a weight held on the spindle to increase its motion. There were two kinds of looms used for weaving, "the foot loom and the back-strap loom. The latter is almost invariably used by women, who attach one end of the loom to a tree or post and fix the other end behind their lower back. For this reason the width of the textile is constrained by what the particular woman can manage. Until the fairly recent past, foot looms were operated mostly by men, but this practice is changing. The threads are made of cotton, although silk is frequently interwoven with cotton in textiles destined for ceremonial use." After european contact Clothing made from animal skins began to be used by the elites.