Textile sample

A textile sample is a piece of cloth or fabric designed to represent a larger whole. A small sample, usually taken from existing fabric, is often called a swatch, whilst a larger sample, made as a trial to test production methods, is called a strike off.[1]
The use of swatches is an essential part of the design process as it enables designers to show the type of fabric their work should utilize, demonstrating how colours and different materials and trimmings will look in real terms before going to the trouble of making up a full design.[2] Swatches also offer the advantage of illustrating how colours and patterns will appear on an actual fabric, something that may not be readily apparent from a paper or digital design.[3] The textile manufacturer might bring together many swatches of their materials into a single sample book, enabling a salesperson to show a wide selection of available designs in various colorways to potential customers without the necessity of having multiple rolls of fabric immediately to hand.[4]
Pop Culture References
The popular television reality program "Project Runway" about fashion designers vying for a top prize, features a fabric store in New York City, called "Mood Fabrics", where contestants are frequently sent by the show to purchase fabrics for the TV show's fashion challenges. The fabric store has a mascot, a Boston Terrier dog (owned by the store owners), often shown in video clips on the TV show, whose name is "Swatch." [5]
References
- ^ Tortora, Phyllis; Ingrid Johnston (2013). Fairchild books dictionary of textiles (08 ed.). Fairchild Books. p. 594. ISBN 1609015355.
- ^ Baker, Georgia (2013). A Handbook of Costume Drawing. CRC Press. p. 28. ISBN 9781136083341.
- ^ Kight, Kimberly (2011). A Field Guide to Fabric Design Design, Print & Sell Your Own Fabric. Lanham: C & T Pub. p. 66. ISBN 1607056186.
- ^ Nielson, Karla J. (2007). Interior textiles : fabrics, applications, & historical styles. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 9–10. ISBN 9780471606406.
- ^ http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/tim-gunn-swatch-boston-terrier-project-runway-photos-mood-designer-fabrics.
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