Organdy or Organdie is a kind of sheer

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

. It is a lightweight balanced

plain weave Plain weave (also called tabby weave, linen weave or taffeta weave) is the most basic of three fundamental types of textile weaving, weaves (along with satin weave and twill). It is strong and hard-wearing, and is used for fashion and furnishin ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

with features of sheerness and crispness.

Characteristics

Organdy is a stiffened material; sheerest among its peers, such as

lawn cloth Lawn cloth or lawn is a fine plain weave textile, made with fine combed cotton. Terms also used include batiste and nainsook. Originally the name applied to plain weave linen, and linen lawn is also called "handkerchief linen". The term ''lawn'' i ...

and

Batiste Cambric or batiste, is a fine dense cloth. It is a lightweight plain-weave fabric, originally from the commune of Cambrai (in present-day northern France), woven greige (neither bleached nor dyed), then bleached, piece-dyed, and often gl ...

. Often, these materials may come from the same grey goods, and are differentiated from each other in how they are

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

. Organdy's sheerness and crispness are attributed to the acid finish (parchmentising) whereas the lawn is finished with starch or resin, and Batiste is a softer fabric type. Finer yarns with higher twist counts are used in superior quality organdy.

Process

Organdy is an acid stiffened cloth. Its sheerness and crispness is the result of an

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

finish, where the fabric is treated with

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...

solution for a short period and then neutralized to remove excessive acid. The process is named " parchmentising". The parchmentization is a treatment of acid on cellulosic textiles in the pursuit of obtaining the characteristic of the

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins of ...

.The finish offers a stiffened and translucent effect, not dissimilar from silk organza. Figured Organdy is produced by applying an acid-resisting substance to a localised area; on the contrary, immersing it completely makes it stiffen all over. The objective of all-over parchmentizing is to create a transparent cloth.

Use

Organdy was used for bridal dresses, ladies party dresses, and blouses. Organdy was a useful material as a

Casement cloth Casement cloth is a lightweight sheer fabric made of various fibers used chiefly for curtains. Weave It is possible to make casement cloth with any fine natural or synthetic yarns. The weave structure may vary from plain to figured one. The w ...

, sheers, and

lining Lining may refer to: * Lining (sewing), the process of inserting an inner layer of fabric, fur, or other material * Lining of paintings, the process of restoration paintings by attaching a new canvas to the back of the existing one * Brake linin ...

etc. In the late 19th through mid 20th century, young girls used to wear dresses made of organdy. Because the material has a wrinkling tendency due to stiffened properties, it has fallen out of favor in the childrenswear market. Today, organdy is most often seen in high fashion collections by designers such as

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

References

Sources

* Woven fabrics {{textile-stub