Pattern Drift

If you were able to bag a bargain by buying a whole roll of fabric at a discount, you might want to think about why it was cheap. Especially designer fabrics (but any really) may not be printed correctly. Pattern drift is when the design on the fabric does not repeat at the correct intervals. As a result, lengths of fabric that are joined together can not be pattern matched. Other faults include ‘bobbles’ in the weave and selvedges that do not allow for matching the patterns because they are too narrow. I would normally send those faulty fabrics back to where they came from.

Here’s an example of pattern drift. You’ll notice it immediately if you look at the yellow tulips. They are supposed to be at the same level in the fabric.