What is Muslin Fabric? can I use just normal fabric?

Question

What is Muslin Fabric? can I use just normal fabric?

Answer 1

In the U.S., muslin is a plain woven fabric, usually natural ivory but sometimes bleached white, available in different qualities, some quite cheap and flimsy, some perfectly sturdy and suitable for use in quilts (it's often used for the backs of quilts).  In England, it's sometimes called "calico" (which in the U.S. means fabric, usually cotton, with a small print, usually floral).

Whether you can substitue other fabric depends on what you're making.  You can probably use fabric of a similar weight and weave.

Answer 2

It depends what you are using it for, but you could substitute an old soft sheet.

Answer 3

The others are correct... it is a cotton fabric like a light-weight canvas. The are also correct in the fact that it comes in different "grades", and it REALLY depends on what you are using it for.

MY use of muslin is in the Theater... we use it to be scenery "FLATS" (pieces of wall)... light wooden frames with muslin stretched across like a painting canvas, and then "sized" with diluted elmer's glue or starch to make it drum tight for painting.

Just for your information, here is the Wikipedia definition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslin

Answer 4

muslin is a cheap rough nasty form of cotton. Its meant to save you money so you use it for patterns or things you are experimenting with.  Sometimes we use muslin for  sails on little sail boats i think.  And there is a better quality muslin that they make sheets out of but no matter how many times you wash them they never get soft.

Yea, use what you want to as long as it acts like cotton/poly.

Answer 5

Muslin is usually cheaper than other cotton. It also comes in much wider widths than other cotton fabric.

It is not nessarily rough. It is a natural oatmeal color and kind of thin.