Drill is stout, durable

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, 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 ...

fabric with a strong bias (diagonal) in the weave. It can be used unbleached, although it is more often

bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...

ed or

dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...

Use in clothing

Light weight drill is used in clothing items such as

shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. ...

s, safari jackets,

blouse A blouse () is a loose-fitting upper garment that may be worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women, and children.The Concise Oxford English Dictionary It is typically gathered at the waist or hips (by tight hem, pleats, parter, or belt) so th ...

s, and some types of sports clothing. The heavier weights were often used in corsets, and are commonly used in work clothing and uniforms. The most common use of drill in

uniform A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

s and casual wear is in the form of

khaki drill Khaki drill (KD) is the British military term for a type of fabric and the military uniforms made from them. History Khaki colour uniforms were first introduced in 1848 in the British Indian Army Corps of Guides. As well as the Corps of Guid ...

. Learning from this practice, British troops took to dyeing their white drill uniforms to obtain more serviceable campaign clothing; this practice became widespread during the crisis of the Indian Mutiny. Initially, improvised dyes produced clothing that ranged in shade from lavender grey to earth brown, although all were referred to as "khaki". In the mid-1880s, standardised cotton drill uniforms were produced using a colourfast mineral dye of the shade now recognised universally as khaki. The fabric soon became a popular material for military uniforms, and in the United States following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, as veterans returned to college campuses, it became popular in casual dress as well .

Other uses

Drill is a versatile fabric that has been used in a variety of applications. Boat sail drill is a lightweight, unbleached drill used to make sails for sailing craft. Although

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

(canvas) was more commonly used for these purposes, drill has also been used to make tarpaulins, tents, awnings and canopies, but the use of both fabrics has been supplanted in modern times with synthetic fabrics. Like duck, drill is used as a covering for furniture and cushions.

References

Woven fabrics {{Textile-stub