Explore guide
Plan across several dye lots
Compare the actual lots and assign them deliberately before starting visible panels.
Related lessons and tools
Compare the actual lots and assign them deliberately before starting visible panels.
Before you start
Keep the exact labels and make two comparable samples. Change one material property at a time and use the intended finishing method on both.
How to do it
- Identify dye lots and color references — Color code identifies a named shade; dye lot identifies a production batch. Compare actual strands in the intended light before mixing batches.
- Plan a dye-lot transition — Compare the batches in a washed sample. If alternating batches, choose a row sequence and carry method that suit the construction.
- Make a representative finished swatch — Use the project’s stitch pattern, working direction and finishing treatment. A smooth flat sample does not represent a textured circular garment.
- Combine component quantities without mixing colors — Two parts using 120 m and 80 m of color A total 200 m before reserve. Color B uses 60 m separately. At 100 m per ball and 10% reserve, buy three A balls and one B ball.
Try this example
Two lots look close in a ball but differ in a finished stripe sample. Test alternating supplies where the construction allows, or place the transition at a deliberate design boundary.
Check your result
- Compare the dry samples for recovery, surface, drape and the property needed for the project. Record observations separately from label claims.
- A fiber name or category cannot predict every finished fabric. Construction, treatment, gauge and use all affect the result.
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