Muslin Fabric

About

Muslin fabric by the yard delivers the soft, breathable, plain-weave cotton that pattern-makers, quilters, dyers, and prop builders rely on. Lightweight enough to drape faithfully on a dress form, sturdy enough for theatrical backdrops, and absorbent enough for natural dyes, muslin earns its place in every studio. Shop 100% cotton muslin in continuous yardage at Zelouf Fabrics, shipping from New York. Shop Muslin Fabric by the Yard for Garments, Quilting and Backdrops Muslin is one of the most versatile cotton fabrics on the market. It is a finely woven, plain-weave cloth used for centuries in everything from couture pattern-making to bookbinding. The name traces to Mosul (modern Iraq), the historical textile-trading hub, while the fabric itself was perfected in Dhaka, in present-day Bangladesh. At its peak in the 17th and 18th centuries, Dhaka muslin, called woven air or woven wind by Mughal emperors, was so fine it was exported to European courts and traded by the British East India Company. You may also see it spelled mousseline (French) or musselin (German). It is pronounced MUZ-lin. Modern commercial muslin typically runs 68x72 threads per inch (a standard print cloth construction), though finer grades reach 200 threads per inch. Our unbleached cotton muslin collection delivers the natural cotton base most makers want, in continuous yardage. For other lightweight cotton options, explore our cotton fabric , poplin , and voile collections. A Brief History of Muslin Fabric Muslin’s story begins in Dhaka, in what is now Bangladesh, where weavers used ultra-fine native Phuti karpas cotton to produce cloth so sheer that Mughal emperors called it Baft Hawa (“Woven Air”), and European traders paid fortunes to ship it west. The fabric’s name entered European languages through Mosul, the Iraqi trading city where merchants first encountered it, giving rise to mousseline in French and musselin in German. By the 17th century, Bengal muslin had become one of the world’s most