Thread Counts (colour band widths)

You can adjust the width of each band of colour in two ways. Either click-and-drag the ‘handle’ of any slider bar to the left or right. Or type a number into its counter box to the right of each. Note that the count will always increment in steps of two, as tartans are almost always woven in even-numbered pairs of threads.

The numbers represent the number of threads used in a typical woven fabric (called the ‘threadcount’). This does not always correspond to the actual number of threads in a woven fabric, as that may vary according to the material etc. It is the proportions of one band relative to another that really matters. A thread count of 8-24-16 is effectively the same is one of 4-12-8.