Crossword Genius

Southern outlaw's open fabric (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scrim

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'fabric' is the definition.
(I know that Scrim is a type of fabric)

'southern outlaw's open' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'southern' could be 's' (abbreviation) and 's' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'crim' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for scrim that I've seen before include "material" , "A loosely-woven cotton fabric" , "Open-weave muslin fabric" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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