My whole color story fell apart when the dye lot was wrong

I was in my studio in Austin working on a silk dress, and the new roll of fabric I got was supposed to match the swatch I picked. I mean, it was the same color name and everything. I cut the pieces and started sewing, but when I put the bodice next to the skirt, one was clearly a shade lighter. I had to stop everything, call the supplier, and they sent the right lot, but it set me back a full week. Has anyone else had a project almost ruined by a bad dye match?

3 comments

3 Comments

richardr4513d ago

Ugh, that's the worst. I read this article a while back about how even big fashion houses have this problem, like a whole run of designer coats got scrapped because the sleeves didn't match the body. It's not just fabric either, I heard about a painter who mixed a custom color for a mural, ran out, and the new batch dried totally different. Makes you want to just work in black and white sometimes.

nina_butler13d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, they scrapped a whole run of coats? That's insane money down the drain. I can't even imagine the cost.

barnes.shane13d ago

Black and white sounds safe until you realize even printer toner has batch problems. The real nightmare is when your left sock fades faster than the right one after a wash. At least the painter can blame the sun, but a whole rack of coats with mismatched arms? That's a special kind of factory floor heartbreak. Makes you wonder if anyone ever just sewed them all together into some kind of patchwork monster coat.