Editing Muslin (section)

=== Dressmaking and sewing ===
[[File:Muslin-Dresses-Gillray.jpeg|thumb|In ''Advantages of wearing Muslin Dresses!'' (1802), [[James Gillray]] satirically pointed out a hazard of untreated muslin: its flammability.]]
Because muslin is an inexpensive, unbleached cotton fabric available in different weights, it is often used as a backing or lining for quilts, and therefore can often be found in wide widths in the quilting sections of fabric stores.
[[File:White muslin nightgown - DPLA - 1e4cef31160a530a862946b8ada4c821 (page 1) (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|White muslin nightgown]]
When [[sewing]] clothing, a [[dressmaker]] may test the fit of a garment by using muslin fabric to make a test-model before cutting pieces from more expensive fabric to make the final product, thereby avoiding potential costly mistakes. In the United States, these test-models are themselves sometimes referred to as "muslins", the process is called "making a muslin", and "muslin" has become the generic term for any test- or fitting garment, regardless of the fabric it is made from.

In Britain and Australia, the term for a test- or fitting garment used to be<ref name="OEDtoile">''Oxford English Dictionary'': "toile"; its earliest known use in this sense was recorded in 1561.</ref> [[Toile#Test garment|Toile]].<ref>''Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English'' ISBN 019 431 5339, 2000, page 1367</ref> The word "toile", from an Old French word for "cloth", entered the English language around the 12th century. (Today, ''toile'' simply refers to any sheer fabric, which may be made, for example, from linen or cotton.)

The modern German term for a test- or fitting garment is ''Nesselmodell''.<ref>Guido Hofenbitzer: Maßschnitte und Passform – Schnittkonstruktion für Damenmode: Band 2 [[Europa-Lehrmittel]]; 2. Edition (5. Oktober 2016) ISBN 978-3808562444, Page 26</ref>