Madras (cloth) handwoven (evidenced by the small flaws in the fabric). Cotton madras is woven from a fragile, short-staple cotton fiber that can't be combed, only carded, resulting in bumps known as slubs which are thick spots in the yarn that give madras its unique texture. The cotton is hand-dyed after being spun into yarn, woven and finished in some 200 small villages in the Madras area. Madras fabric is generally regarded as belonging to the peasant class in its native India. Dutch traders arrived in India in the early 1600s to trade in the local calico cloth, followed by the British.
Tattersall (cloth) Tattersall (cloth) Tattersall describes a check or plaid pattern woven into cloth. The pattern is composed of regularly-spaced thin, even vertical warp stripes, repeated horizontally in the weft, thereby forming squares. The stripes are usually in two alternating colours, generally darker on a light ground. The cloth pattern takes its name from Tattersall's horse market, which was started in London in 1766. During the 18th century at Tattersall's horse market blankets with this checked pattern were sold for use on horses. Today tattersall is a common pattern, often woven in cotton, particularly in flannel, used for shirts or waistcoats. Traditional