Articles

In-depth guides and practical articles on designer fabrics.

• This week's fiber: what linen's slubs and creases are actually telling you The bumps and wrinkles that read as flaws in a cheap fabric are, in linen, the fingerprint of the fiber itself.
• Reading a fabric's rub count: Martindale, Wyzenbeek, and what 'heavy duty' means Two abrasion tests dominate the specs, they use different machines and different numbers, and confusing them is how the wrong fabric ends up on a hard-working chair.
• The Jacquard loom: how a 200-year-old punch-card machine still decides what's on the bolt Damask, brocade, and tapestry-weave fabrics owe their intricate patterns to a control system invented in 1804 that also happens to sit at the root of computing.
• Beyond Paint: The Quiet Luxury of Textured Wallcoverings