What is poplin?

We often hear the word poplin to talk about fabric... but do you know what lies behind this term?

That's what I invite you to discover in this article. Let's go!

What is poplin?

The poplin is not a fabric but a weave with a particular thread composition; that is to say, a way of weaving the thread to create a piece of fabric.

Weave

This weave is made up of interlaced warp and weft threads in a grid pattern. Poplin is a plain weave because a weft thread passes under only one warp thread and vice versa.

Threads

The warp threads are finer and therefore twice as numerous as the weft threads.

A bit of history

The origin of poplin or rather "papeline" can be traced back to the 15th century in the Avignon region. At that time, poplin was created on lands belonging to the pope, hence the name "papeline". Poplin was made from silk and wool. The silk thread was much finer than the wool thread, so there was twice as much silk thread as wool thread. This fabric therefore had the warmth of wool and the softness of silk.

Do you know how the A becomes an O and papeline becomes poplin?

Well, when papeline was exported to Anglo-Saxon countries, the Anglican Church could not tolerate the papal origin of this material and... changed just one letter... hence the current name poplin.

Nowadays, what material(s) is poplin made from?

This is where it gets a bit tricky... let me explain! As we saw above, poplin is a plain weave where the warp threads are finer and twice as numerous. It can therefore be made with several materials: silk, wool, cotton, polyester, etc.

However, you can also find poplins with different fibers in warp and weft.

Generally, the problem with these composite products is their recycling. Indeed, the addition - for example - of polyester lowers the production cost of fabrics but makes their recycling impossible. It is unfortunately too complex to separate the different types of threads in order to include them in the appropriate recycling process. These fabrics will then be destroyed...

At c'est du Joly, we have therefore chosen to offer you poplins made of a single type of fiber: cotton or viscose. Cotton poplin is the most common material and we will now focus on it.

Advantages concerning cotton poplin

The cotton poplin has many advantages:

it is lightweight,
it is breathable
soft on the skin
it has a certain fluidity while maintaining structure
it comes in all colors and patterns
it is easy to cut and sew
ironing is very easy
it is easy to care for

At what sewing levels is poplin intended?

As you may have understood, cotton poplin can be suitable for all sewers and especially for beginners in sewing who will gain a lot of satisfaction from sewing this material.

Sewing poplin

Women's top in liberty lined with coordinated cotton poplin

For which projects is cotton poplin used?

Cotton poplin is a really very pleasant fabric to sew and is suitable for many projects. It is often thought to be used to make dresses or feminine blouses, or more recently face masks, but many other projects can be made with this material.

Indeed, cotton poplin will be a great ally for sewing blouses and shirts (men's and women's) that combine good structure, a nice drape, and let your skin breathe.

It is also used for children's clothing and baby accessories such as bibs, nests, blankets... In addition, poplin also allows a lot of creativity in terms of patterns.

Cotton poplin also allows you to create pretty linings and facings. A often effective way to reuse your scraps. Imagine the facing of a trouser waistband, the lining of a jacket, the bottom of a bag or a printed, etc., to which it will give that little extra that you notice. The same goes for linings of accessories, bags, and printed...