Every pattern has a paper trail.

Gingham, denim, paisley: every named cloth was first woven somewhere, named for something, and carried a route to reach us. Here is that record, with the geometry of each pattern rendered from its own specification, and a source under every claim.

Today’s specimen

Plate No. 094 · fabric

Pongee

Pongee is a soft, thin, naturally tan plain-weave silk woven from wild or semi-wild silk, its handloom origins leaving a faintly uneven, nubby surface. Its undyed honey color was its signature, the mark of the wild cocoon, and it reached the West in quantity as an inexpensive everyday silk for summer suits, blouses, and linings.

First documented 1700s · China

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