Modern fabrics are often enjoyed purely for their surface beauty. They delight with a rainbow of colours, intricate patterns and tactile textures, yet many home decorators give little thought to how they are created. Mechanised production has conditioned us to expect the easy availability of a seemingly infinite variety of weaves and prints; ever-more clever innovations allow the delivery of metre upon metre of perfectly replicated fabric, produced at remarkably high speed.
Before the Industrial Revolution, from the latter half of the 18th century, textile production required many hands and hours, and the bespoke results were deeply
