Moved to chat because it is now off topic: At 07:00 PM 8/1/04 +0100, Annette Gill wrote:
[U.K.] >But then we also use the word muslin to refer to light-weight white >cotton of a normal weave (as per the Regency-era dresses mentioned by >Jane Austen)... U.S.: Up until the advent of 200-count sheets, which, I think, happened in the 1980s, "muslin" was the name of a bedding fabric coarser than percale. Percale came in white, dyed, or printed (with white the overwhelming favorite); muslin yardage came in white or unbleached. (I believe that ready-made muslin sheets also came printed, but I always bought white. Ready-made didn't come in unbleached) 200-count stole the name "Percale", and muslin bedding disappeared altogether, but narrow unbleached muslin hung around as a "craft" fabric. In the fifties, Indian Head(TM) muslin was a stout, high-quality muslin used for things that I'd buy heavy linen for, now that I have access to fabric.com. We called it Indian Head and didn't think of it as a form of the stuff we made sheets and pillowcases from. Indian Head came in white and several solid colors -- all bright or dark, if I recall correctly, or maybe children my age didn't buy pastels. -- Joy Beeson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/LINKS/KITTEN.HTM west of Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A. where it's summer. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
