Batiste as the name implies, is of French origin, a weaver:Baptiste Cambrai, commercially understood to mean a light translucent cloth, made from a fine quality of combed cotton, wool, polyester or linen thread, ranging in width from 32 Inches to 45 inches.
There is likewise a gradual variation in qualities, ranging from a comparatively coarse to a very fine fabric. Organdy, lawn and batiste differ from one another in the way they are finished. The variations of the different qualities will be more apparent when we consider their commercial value. The variety of qualities will suggest some idea of the utility of the fabric. Its uses are even more varied than are the qualities. The finer grades of batiste are used for dress goods, all kinds of lingerie for summer wear, pillow shams, etc., while the cheaper grades are extensively used for linings in washable and unwashable shirtwaists.
In this article we are confining ourselves to bleached cotton batiste, reserving the linen and colored for some future discussion. Batiste is woven In the gray, that is, with yarn direct from the spinning frame, with the. exception that the warp yarn is well sized, in order to better stand the strain to which the yarn is subjected during the weaving process. We will consider, first, a very fine bleached cotton batiste, of a quality made 45 inches in width, and then a very cheap grade of bleached cotton batiste, made 32 inches in width. The analysis will readily show the vast difference in these two qualities.
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