On Friday I drove over to my print mill in Lancaster to check out my latest 'Swoon Editions' order that is currently in work for their lovely chairs! Really interesting to get a bit of a tour around the mill & take part in the checking process. These photos show the first stage of fabric checking following the digital printing & finishing processes. The fabric is run through the various rollers & the Controller stands on a viewing platform where they can look over the fabric as it comes through the machine & tags any imperfections or marks. At second stage checking the tagged areas are looked at more closely & if a dot of colour hasn't printed it's hand-touched up & any removable marks are dusted off or remedied at this stage. Any seriously marked sections are cut away as with any printing process, there always have to be tolerances due to the sensitivity of the inks, fabric & Digital Printers being utilised in the process. If one variable is altered slightly it can lead to issues such as mis-registration, ink blots, oil spots from the machines dropping on to the fabric or snags/laddering in the fabric. Luckily this print run was looking really good!

Great to finally meet all the members of the team that I talk to & email on a regular basis, such a lovely lot & has brought the whole process to life for me. Also amazing to check out their shop, where, with permission from the various designers, any mis-printed or excess meterage is sold off to non-commercial customers for their various craft & home projects. Check out their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/clearancefabrics. My home will soon be clad in Christian Lacroix darling!!!