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Every cloth has a backstory

Why is it called a tattersall? Where did gingham come from? Why is a striped shirt called a Breton? Turns out every named cloth has a backstory, and most of them are better than you'd guess.

So this is a catalogue of those backstories. Each fabric gets a numbered entry with its pattern drawn from its actual weave (not a photo), where it started, how it traveled, and the sources for all of it. It's for sewists, designers, and anyone who likes knowing why things are the way they are.

Read more about how entries are sourced and rendered in the methodology.