thin, see-though fabric
 

Some of the most expensive cotton fabric I have ever purchased was a very "thin" - "see-through" - cotton batiste (?) that I bought to make a baptismal gown for our children.

It is tightly woven with very fine threads - but it is "thin" - and it is "see-through"

The important thing -IMO- about buying fabrics - are they suitable for your purpose?

Cotton cheesecloth/gauze is very appropriate for some things - where the most tightly woven batik would not work at all!

It all depends on the reason it was purchased.

I don't buy any fabric anymore unless it is 100% cotton quilting fabric.

I am sort of addicted to making foundation-pieced crazy quilts, so I keep my eyes open for really thin fabrics at yardsales and thrift shops to use as my foundation; or super sales on really thin muslin. For that purpose, thinner is better, to a certain limit.

Cheap fabric can be used to test patterns a lot of the time. I'm STILL hunting for the "perfect" teddy bear pattern and have made a few mock-ups out of some awful fabrics I had on hand. For that I just have to make sure it's not unusually stretchy, since I'm trying to get a good idea of the bear's shape. The dogs get my test bears as toys, they don't care what the fabric looks like!

Many years ago there was a technique called Shadow quilting where you applique a quilt top, then place a very thin piece of fabric over the top, and quilt the quilt. It softens the colors of the applique. I saw baby quilts made that way. I think they used the batiste fabric. If it was used for a baby quilt, it must have been somewhat sturdy.

I think the sturdy-ness of the fabric depends on the person using it. When the boys were little, they could destroy a pair of denim jeans in no time! lol

I use thin fabric for foundations for heartstring (string) quilt blocks. My mother sometimes finds cotton fabric that I wouldn't use in my top or backing but it is great for these foundations.

Thin fabric and cheap fabric are not always the same thing. Batiste is not cheap and is usually thin, etc. Buying for the purpose is best. I usually only buy 100 percent cotton fabric for quilt anymore too. Some 14.99 yd fabric is thin, but I don't call that cheap, and some cheaper fabrics are thick but not made well. Different process make different types of fabrics, just buy and use what you think is best for your project.

Thank you for bringing this up. I am currently making a quilt with Thimbleberries fabric that was gifted to me. Most of it is older, probably 10 - 15 years old. One of the brown pieces I wanted to use because it was the right color, was "see through" so I decided not to use it. I know it's not poor quality fabric, because all the fabric gifted to me was LQS, and I'm pretty sure this piece was from the Thimbleberries line too. In retrospect, I probably should have used it, though it was thinner than all the other fabric I am using. I guess I'll save it for a time I need "thin" fabric.

In the distant past (e.g., antique quilts), ekuw, brown fabrics were the first to disintegrate. It had something to do with the dyes used for that color. Your decision not to use that thin brown piece in your current project may have been a message from a quilting ancestor. LOL

The cheaper thinner fabrics are great for sting quilts. I use them for the foundation squares and they add less bulk to the blocks. You can use several different ones, they don't show so it does not matter.