This soft, light cotton material is called nainsook. Isn't that a queer name? It is from an old Hindoo word for a material made and used in India. Nainsook is used for underwear and clothing for baby. It comes in several grades. Miss James has some coarser samples, too. It is soft and is nearly always finished, when woven, with very little dressing or starch to stiffen it. It comes 27 inches in width and varies in price from 15 to 50 cents a yard.
This soft crinkly looking material is called cotton crêpe. It is used a great deal for underwear and for shirt waists or dresses. It is considered very economical. Does any one know why? Yes, because it is easily washed and, when hung out in the fresh air and sunshine, does not need to be ironed. Think of all the time saved. The little crinkles dry in place and look well. It costs from 12 to 15 cents per yard, and comes about 30 inches wide.
This piece is a cambric. It is a firm plain weave and is good for underwear. This quality is fine, and its name is Berkeley cambric. Some grades of cambric are coarser and are called cambric muslin. They are glazed and smooth in finish, and are used for linings and for other purposes. That name is also foreign, from Cambrai, France. Cambric is woven a yard wide and costs from 10 to 25 cents per yard. It is very durable material for underwear, not quite so heavy as muslin, and strong.
Dimity is thin. Look at this piece. Mollie had a dress made of it last summer. It is sheer and light, and has little cords or ribs. It is always easy to recognize on that account. It is used for summer dresses, sometimes for dainty underwear; but it is not suitable for underwear which must have hard usage every day. It costs from 15 to 50 cents per yard and is woven about a yard wide. Sometimes it comes in colors and also with pretty printed figures on it. See, here are some printed ones. What dainty patterns and colors! Would you like a dress of one of these? Miss James has found two other thin, sheer, white ones. There are so many I wonder if we can remember all. This thin one is lawn and is a plain weave. It comes in inexpensive qualities at 5 cents and in better qualities for 25 cents. The width varies from 36 to 40 inches. Do you know of anything at home or in school, made of lawn? Yes, dresses, aprons, curtains. It comes in colors too; here is a pretty blue. It is smooth and starched and pressed when one buys it.
This other is soft but not so starched. It is called mull. That is a Hindoo word, too. Do you remember that cotton was grown in India many years before we had it in America; that is why the cotton materials so often have Indian names. Mull is too fine for underwear, but it is used for pretty white dresses.
Here are two heavy white samples; one is called Indian head, and the other duck. Such strange names! Do you know their uses? Perhaps your mother had a skirt last summer of duck or Indian Head. Mrs. Alden of Pleasant Valley had one. Both these cotton materials wear well. The duck is used for men's trousers, also; and in very heavy qualities, it is used for sails or tents and awnings. John Alden's first long trousers were made of duck. How important he felt! Duck is sometimes colored blue or other colors. It varies in width from 27 to 36 inches and costs from 12 cents up. The Indian head is used for the same purposes as duck and comes in the same width for about the same price,—15 cents a yard up, according to quality.
Fig. 36.—A towel which Miss James uses at school.
We shall have time to study about only two more to-day. They are both heavy. This is galatea, and comes in white, like this sample, or in colors. It is firm like duck and Indian head. Can you tell for what it is used? Have you ever seen any before? It is used for dress skirts, and very often for girls' middy blouses or children's clothes. It washes very well. It is 27 inches wide and costs from 14 to 25 cents a yard.