drill (fabric)
{{Improve categories|date=July 2025}}{{Short description|Sturdy warp-faced left-hand twill cotton fabric}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
Drill is stout, durable cotton fabric with a strong bias (diagonal) in the weave.
{{Cite web
|url = http://www.fabrics-manufacturers.com/drill.html
|title = Drill Fabric
|work = Fabrics Manufacturers
|access-date = 28 March 2010
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100316024339/http://www.fabrics-manufacturers.com/drill.html
|archive-date = 16 March 2010
|df = dmy-all
}} It can be used unbleached, although it is more often bleached or dyed.
Use in clothing
Light weight drill is used in clothing items such as shirts, safari jackets, blouses, and some types of sports clothing.
{{Cite news
| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rbIKAAAAIBAJ&dq=cotton%20drill%20sail&pg=4568%2C1013910
| title=Maids Go Angling in Cotton Drill and Sail the Sea in Hopsacking
| last=Kerr
| first=Adelaide
| date=4 May 1938|work=St. Petersburg Times
| pages=26
| access-date=28 March 2010
| location=St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
}} The heavier weights were often used in corsets,
{{Cite web
| url=http://www.sharonburnston.com/othercenturies.html
| access-date=28 March 2010
| title=Portrait Gallery: Other Centuries
}} and are commonly used in work clothing and uniforms.
The most common use of drill in uniforms and casual wear is in the form of khaki drill. 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, as veterans returned to college campuses, it became popular in casual dress as well.
{{Cite news
| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/22/magazine/khaki.html
| date=27 March 1987
| access-date=28 March 2010
| title=KHAKI
| newspaper=New York Times
| first=G. Bruce
| last=Boyer
}}
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.
{{Cite journal
| last=Taylor
| first=Stillman
|date = June 1916| title=How to Build and Sail a Small Boat-II
| journal=Popular Science
| volume=88
| issue=6
| pages=929
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hyYDAAAAMBAJ&q=boat+sail+cotton+drill&pg=PA930
| access-date=28 March 2010
{{Cite journal
| url=http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/07/howto/retro/index.htm
| title=Retro Tech Sails
| date=November 2007
| last=Booth|first=Bob
| journal=Duckworks Magazine
| access-date=28 March 2010
}} Although duck (canvas) was more commonly used for these purposes,
{{Cite news
| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Po8nAAAAIBAJ&pg=1093,778891&dq=cotton+drill+sail&hl=en
| title=Cuero Secretary Asks President to Visit Turkey Trot
| last=Carrington
| first=J. C.
| date=26 November 1926
| work=The Victoria Advocate
| volume=26|issue=133|page=4
| access-date=28 March 2010
}} drill has also been used to make tarpaulins, tents, awnings and canopies,
{{Cite journal
| journal=Daily Southern Cross
| volume=XXI|issue=2378|page=7|date=4 March 1865
| title=Ship Chandlery
| url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DSC18650304.2.23.5
| access-date=29 March 2010
}} 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.
{{Cite news
| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/ask-alice-about-cast-iron-guttering-and-decorating-tips-6096883.html
| newspaper=The Independent
| title=Ask Alice: About cast iron guttering and decorating tips
| access-date=29 March 2010
| location=London
| date=28 June 2006
}}