Ninon

This article is about the fabric. For the French author and courtesan, see Ninon de l'Enclos. For the ancient Athenian priestess, see Ninos (priestess).

Ninon is a lightweight, sheer fabric made with plain or leno weaving, it is a suitable material for curtains, evening wear and lingerie.^[1][2][3] Ninon is made with variety of filament yarns such as polyester,^[4] silk, rayon or nylon.^[5][6][7][8]

Sheer curtains

History

Ninon is a French derivation from the name Anne.^[9][2] Originally it was made from highly twisted silk yarns, gradually changed to synthetic yarns such as rayon.^[8][9] In the early 20th century (1909), the Ninon silk was in use for dresses also.^[10]

Types

Initially there were two types of Ninons, single and double. The difference was with the number of ply or the twisted yarns used in weaving: one,  two, or three. The finest and single Ninons are more popular.^[9]

Structure and characteristics

Ninon is a lightweight sheer material with good draping qualities.^[4] It is very thin and has a surface with a mild sheen.^[11] Ninon has an open mesh-like appearance and a crisp hand feel.^[8] Ninon has more transparency similar to Marquisette in comparison to its peers such as voile, lace and batiste which are little opaque. Ninon is soft like Marquisette, voile, lace and batiste. For better strength polyester is considered as a preferred yarn for Ninon.^[12]

It is made in a variety of tight smooth weaves, open lacy patterns. It is described as very delicate or lightweight and is sometimes referred to as "French tergal". It is available in a variety of solid colors and tone-on-tone woven vertical stripes. Some ninon fabrics have embroidered borders.

Use

Ninon is mostly used in drapery and curtains.^{[13][4][14][6][15]} It is also used in blouses, bodice, dresses such as evening wear and in certain lingerie.^{[5][16][17][18][3]}

Care

Ninon products are advised to line dry and iron while they hold moisture (in the semi-dry stage)^[5]

See also

• Casement cloth
• Marquisette

References

1. Linton, George Edward (1966). Natural and Manmade Textile Fibers: Raw Material to Finished Fabric. Duell, Sloan and Pearce. p. 242.
2. "Definition of NINON". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
3. Wingate, Isabel Barnum (1979). Fairchild's dictionary of textiles. Internet Archive. New York : Fairchild Publications. p. 415. ISBN 978-0-87005-198-2.
4. Kadolph (2009). Textiles. Pearson Education. p. 230. ISBN 978-81-317-2570-2.
5. DAVIS, Dorothy Violet (1966). [Domestic encyclopaedia.] The New domestic encyclopaedia. (Second edition.). Internet Archive. London : Faber & Faber. p. 59.
6. Bendel, Peggy; Moore, Helen (1986). Vogue Sewing for the Home. Harper & Row. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-06-181129-6.
7. MAKING HOME FURNISHINGS. 1975. p. 37.
8. MacMillan, Donald D. (1954). Good Taste in Home Decoration. Holt. p. 190.
9. Hardingham, Martin; Sanders, Mary Anne; Roxburgh, Fiona (1978). The fabric catalog. Internet Archive. New York : Pocket Books. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-671-79061-5.
10. Mansfield, A. D. (Alan D. ) (1973). Handbook of English costume in the twentieth century, 1900-1950. Internet Archive. London, Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-09507-0.
11. Faulkner, Ray; Nissen, LuAnn; Faulkner, Sarah (1986). Inside Today's Home. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-03-062577-0.
12. Yearbook of Agriculture. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1926. p. 274.
13. Barbara Baer (1950). How To Make Curtains And Draperies. Universal Digital Library. Medill Mcbride Company. p. 47.
14. Yeager, Jan (1988). Textiles for Residential and Commercial Interiors. Harper & Row. pp. 199, 214. ISBN 978-0-06-047318-1.
15. Tortora, Phyllis G.; Collier, Billie J. (1997). Understanding textiles. Internet Archive. Upper Saddle River, NJ : Merrill. p. 337. ISBN 978-0-13-439225-7.
16. Ford, Ford Madox (1915). The English Review. Duckworth & Company.
17. The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality. Ingram brothers. July 1929. p. 348.
18. The Southerner. Allen-Jennings, Incorporated. 1929. p. 2.

External links