Plate No. 134fabric

A very open plain weave, nearly sheer, the theater scrim.

First documented
1700s
Origin
Britain, United Kingdom
Fiber
cotton, linen
Weave
very open, lightweight plain weave
Family
plain

Plate No. 134 · fabric

Scrim

Scrim is a strong, very open, lightweight plain weave with widely spaced threads, leaving the cloth almost transparent. In the theater it is the magic fabric of the stage: lit from the front it appears solid, lit from behind it turns transparent, which lets a scene appear or vanish. Beyond the stage, scrim reinforces plaster and bookbindings, backs upholstery, and serves wherever an open, stable, gridded cloth is wanted. It is defined by its openness, the loosest useful plain weave short of a true net.

Illustration: the backstage of a nineteenth-century theater, a large pale scrim drop hanging across the stage and lit from behind so it glows half-transparent, ropes and a catwalk above, a stagehand as a distant silhouette in the wings
The backstage of a nineteenth-century theater, a large pale scrim drop hanging across the stage and lit from behind so it glows half-transparent, ropes and a catwalk above, a stagehand as a distant silhouette in the wings.

Named for

Of uncertain origin, recorded from the early 1700s as the name of a thin, open cloth.

Often confused with

Scrim vs Cheesecloth →

Sources & References

  1. 1.Scrim (material), Wikipedia
  2. 2.Plain weave, Wikipedia

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