The Pepperell Drill is a Grey Drill of superior quality made from high-class yarns and exceedingly well woven.
Grey Jeans.—This name is given to an all-cotton fabric woven as a three-shaft twill having either (a) each weft thread passing over one and under two warp threads, or (b) each weft thread passing over two and under one warp thread, the warp and weft intersections traversing one thread and one pick further from their respective positions each time a pick of weft is inserted.
When woven as a warp-faced twill fabric from strong yarns, the cloth is often called a Drill, and is used for suitings, boot linings, corseting, etc; when woven from lighter yarns as a medium-weight weft-faced twill fabric, the cloth is largely used for linings. In width it varies from 28 and under to 31 or more inches and in length from 30 to 40 yards per piece. A "Grey" Jean is a Jean in the loom state, i.e., which has not been bleached by being treated with bleaching powders, etc.
Grey Sheeting.—There are two distinct varieties of Grey Sheeting. The first kind is used for bed sheeting and is a stout cotton cloth woven from coarse yarns, usually in a four-shaft two-and-two twill weave, and having a width of as much as 120 inches. The weave of this material being a twill weave having an equal number of warp and weft threads to the inch, the twill lines or diagonal produced will be at an angle of 45 degrees to a line drawn across the width of the material. This diagonal effect is produced by the warp and weft intersections traversing one thread and one pick further from their respective positions each time a pick or weft is inserted. This kind of Sheeting is known as Bolton Sheeting, which is a grey material, i.e., unbleached. In length the piece may measure up to 80 yards. The second kind of Sheeting is Waste Sheeting, made from waste and condenser wefts, i.e., wefts made from certain waste cotton which accumulates during the process of spinning yarn. This waste is treated by special machinery, which prepares it and spins it into a full, level, and soft yarn, which is used for weft in the weaving of Sheetings. Waste Sheetings are woven like Bolton Sheeting, with the exception of the lower qualities, which are often plain or calico woven. The lower grades of Grey Sheeting are often simply grey Calico cloths of about 36 inches in width and resembling very closely Grey Shirtings, the only difference being that they are slightly heavier in the yarn than the ordinary Grey Shirting. Grey Sheeting is generally made up into pieces of from 40 to 80 yards in length and varying in weight according to count of yarn used.
Grey Shirting.—A Grey Shirting is an unbleached cotton cloth woven with a plain weave and having the warp and weft approximately equal in number of threads and counts; the fabric has a plain, even surface, which, when the threads are evenly spaced, is said to be well "covered." Grey Shirting, a staple import into the Eastern markets, is made up in pieces measuring from 36 to 40 yards in length, a width of from 36 to 45 inches, and weighing from 7 to 11 pounds and over per piece, according to the count of the yarn and the amount of size used. This class of fabric has the warp threads heavily sized. The exact difference between Grey Shirtings and certain grades of Grey Sheetings is at times non-apparent. Again, a Grey Shirting may be termed a Calico, which in the trade has become a general term used to designate practically any cotton cloth coarser than Muslin.
Grey T-Cloths.—All-cotton plain-woven unbleached fabric of low quality and heavily sized yarns nearly always put up in 24-yard lengths. The name is said to be derived from the mark T of the original exporters.