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|  | | | ![Calico History and Information]( "Calico History and Information") | Calico History and Information
Calico is a plain-woven textile. In the United Kingdom, "calico" refers to fabric made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may contain unseparated husk parts, for example. The fabric is less coarse and thicker than canvas or denim, but owing to its unfinished and undyed appearance, it is still very cheap. This fabric is called muslin in the United States. As it is an inexpensive and readily available fabric, Calico is often used by tailors in the construction of toile - mockups of a garment for the purpose of testing a pattern. Also known as "Mutton Cloth" is used for wrapping food for cooking underground in a hangi.
The name Calico is derived from the name of the city of Calicut, Kerala, India. It is used a lot in soft furnishing. It has been made by the traditional weavers of calicut called 'chaliyans.'
In 1700, England banned import (and the use and wear) of cotton cloth from India, in an effort to prop up the English textile industry. Printed calicos were especially popular among women who were termed the 'Calico Madams'. The ban failed, and was strengthened in 1720 (known as the 'Calico Act', it was repealed in 1774). It almost destroyed the Indian textile industry, and India was forced to buy from the British textiles. Rishton was the first place that the cloth calico was woven on an industrial scale in the UK. Rishton is a small town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England |
| | ![Osnaburg History and Information]( "Osnaburg History and Information") | Osnaburg History and Information
Osnaburg was a coarse type of plain textile fabric, named for the city of Osnabrück (from which it may have been first imported into English-speaking countries). Originally made from flax yarns, it has been made from either flax, tow or jute yarns, sometimes flax or tow warp with mixed or jute weft, and often entirely of jute. The finer and better qualities form a kind of common sheeting, and the various kinds may contain from 20 to 36 threads per inch and 10 to 15 picks per inch.
It began to be woven in Scotland as an imitation from a German import of a coarse lint or tow-based linen cloth in the later 1730s. It quickly became the most important variety in East-Central Scotland. Sales quadrupled, from 0.5 million yards in 1747 to 2.2 million yards in 1758. It was exported mainly to England, the Netherlands and Britain's colonies in America, and some rough fabrics were called "osnaburg" as late as the mid-twentieth century.
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