Cotton for apparel

Some appear to be sturdier, others lighter in weight. I have found the lighter ones are excellent for patio dresses, as they have enough body to stand away from sweaty skin, and not to cling when one is wearing a minimum of underwear. The only way to choose is to unwrap a short length from the bolt and feel it. Also, don't buy the very cheap stuff which is so coarsely woven,it will not be comfortable. You need the finer kind.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans

They can be quite crisp to start with, but a couple of washes soon softens them up. These were all amde with quilting cottons, and worked very well indeed: >

Patterns are typically designed for fabrics with a particular drape... if you've got a, say, nightgown designed for a fabric that drapes closely (like batiste or charmeuse), it's going to look like a circus tent in

Quilting cottons work fine for patterns made for fabrics that drape like a fairly beefy muslin. Not so well when you need more or less body.

Kay

There's a new kind of quilting cotton that "feels like silk". That's how they advertise it, and it does! I've seen it in a couple quilt shops, but don't know the brand name. I've used quilt cotton for various shirts, capris, slacks....they work fine, as long as you don't get the really stiff ones!