July 4, 2009

Natural Coutil: it's green!.. well that means natural colored fibers (and it's made in the USA)

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coutil>COUTIL: cou⋅til/kuˈtil, -ˈtɪl/ [koo-teel, -til] –noun a sturdy fabric constructed of a compactly woven herringbone twill.


Origin: 1850–55; <>




Coutil, also spelled coutille, is a fabric that has been used in corset making since the fabrics origin. The reversing angle of the twill wales contributes to it’s toughness. It is a perfect match for use with steel or whalebone.


At Period Corsets® we make our stock corsets in 100% cotton Natural Coutil, an unbleached fabric. We always pre-wash the fabric before we make the corset; this pre-shrinks the cotton so our corsets are ready to be worn and washed or dyed to any color of the rainbow.

In the early days of Period Corsets, we offered corsets in White Coutil only—our signature color. We quickly realized our clients wanted other colors, so we added options like black, peach, and pink. Two years ago we changed all our stock corsets from White to Natural. The Natural Coutil is not bleached, so it does not go through the same chemical processes that white coutil does. (It also has the added benefit of being milled in the USA.) The cotton fibers used in this coutil look like they just came off the plant, as natural as it comes.

Natural Coutil fits well with our customers needs--it’s still easily dye-able and doesn’t show stains as quickly as White. Since our corsets are used show after show, day after day, and stay in costume shops stock for years, it’s nice to have corsets that hold up well and maybe supports just a little our endeavor to keeping the earth a bit cleaner too.
Sometimes we go even further on sunny days and dry our coutil in the sun--whatever we can do to reduce our carbon footprint!
But whether the corset shows or the corset is truly underwear, a basic coutil fabric--herringbone weave, usually cotton--works best as the base. Coutil is strong yet flexible and can be used in either one layer or two, with a fashion fabric top-layer for a more decorative corset.

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