Can you spot the mistake?

[Garth]

I came across this today in my travels.

This isn't my work but was shown to me.

(Original thread has been edited to protect the innocent).



Now with a bit of light:



4 yard double width that was cut and incorrectly joined.

[Baeau]

The question begs to be asked, "What quality control?" I didn't need a straightedge to see the mistake.

[Steve Ashton]

I don't think this is a case of a bad weave but more of someone who purchased 4 yards of double width fabric, cut it down the center and joined the two to give an 8 yard length. They did not notice that the Tartan is asymmetrical when they sewed the two pieces of fabric together.

So more a lack of attention to detail on the part of the maker.

[Tarheel]

We do have a few members that are color blind and may not see the tone differences that make up the mistake. This may be the kilt makers issue.

[Baeau]

We do have a few members that are color blind and may not see the tone differences that make up the mistake. This may be the kilt makers issue.

A colour blind kiltmaker (or weaver) reminds me of my father. Well, with less disaterous results. After his stint in the U.S.Army (post Korea), he was hired by Kodak. The plan was to put him in some colour film processing plant. Pre-employment physical / vision exam showed he was colour blind. So.....he became a grocer.

[OC Richard]

We have a severely colour-blind artist where I work, but he would have spotted that immediately!

While he can't distinguish certain hues from each other, he is far more aware than the rest of us about the relative saturation of different colours.

As you can see one blue stripe is a much more saturated (intense or vivid) blue than the other.

Now if you had blue and purple stripes of identical saturation he couldn't tell them apart. Purple doesn't exist for him.

[Tobus]

The kiltmaker probably isn't colour-blind. He (or she) probably just ripped the tartan in half, turned it over, started to match it up, and said, "oh crud!" There's really nothing else that can be done at that point. It's a one-directional pattern with no mirror that I can see. Short of throwing it in the trash and ordering a single 8-yard piece, the only way to end up with a kilt is to just join it and keep going.

Of course, it might have been better to use one of the pieces for the pleating at the back (if it would cover the length needed) and then split the other one and make two joins at the sides. This would be in the hopes that the front aprons will be turned one way and the back will look another way, which might be less obvious than the pattern changing at the dead center of the pleated area. But then again, I'm not a kiltmaker, so maybe the lengths wouldn't work out well enough for that.

[Steve Ashton]

Most of the weaving mills note if a Tartan is asymmetrical and will offer you a single width length if you ask.

Some will also remind you if you happen to order double-width fabric of an asymmetrical Tartan.

My suppliers are quite polite about the reminder. "Hey, dummy, you did it again!!!"

So to get back at them I do this -