: Velveteen]

All that has been said in favor of velvet applies equally as well to the
best velveteen,--in fact it is a textile of even greater value and
beauty than velvet. The best grades are not cheap, but they wear better
than silk velvet, are fine and silky, excellent in color and sheen,
launder well, and do not press-mark as does silk velvet. Velveteen takes
the dye so beautifully and finishes so well that it has taken rank with
our best standard fabrics. It is made entirely of cotton. It varies in
width but is always wider than velvet.

[Sidenote: Widths of Fabrics]

A knowledge of the various widths of textiles is important in buying.
Transparent fabrics are usually wider than heavier goods made of the
same fiber. Muslin is wider than calico or ordinary print, and thin silk
fabrics such as mull and chiffon are wider than velvet.

In wool dress goods various distinct widths are known as single--thirty
and thirty-six inches--double fold (forty-five and fifty-four inches),
etc. Silk, velvet, and velveteen are single width. The velvet ranges
from eighteen to twenty-four inches in width and velveteen twenty-seven.
Bodice linings vary from thirty-five to thirty-eight inches; skirt
linings come in both single and double fold.

Household linen including bedding varies in width from one yard to two
and one-fourth and two and one-half yards for sheeting and from
thirty-eight to fifty-four inches for pillow case muslin.

Table linen is woven in both square and circular cloths of various
sizes, and napkins vary in width from the small sizes to a yard square.

No fixed widths can be given for any textile as width often changes with
the weave.

NAMES OF FABRICS

Textiles usually take their names from the country, city, port, or
province from whence they originated; from the names of the makers; and
methods of weaving, dyeing, ornamentation, etc. The fixing of
localities, methods, etc., is oftentimes guesswork. The textiles of
to-day bearing the same name as those of the middle ages have nothing in
common. Buckram was originally made in and called from Bokkara. In the
middle ages it was costly, fine, and beautiful, used for church
vestments, veils for covering lecterns, cathedral flags, and in the 16th
century for the lining of velvet gowns. The coarse, heavy, plain-woven
linen or cotton material known as buckram today is used for stiffening,
etc.

[Sidenote: Fustian]

Fustian, a kind of corduroy or velveteen,