Velvet Pile Direction and Shading Tolerance
Mark velvet pile direction before sofa panels are cut. The direction of the pile changes how much light the face returns, so two panels from the same roll can look lighter and darker when their arrows disagree. Agree the arrow, the viewing light, and the shade comment you will accept, then cut. A loose note that says “watch the shading” does not tell the cutter which way the panels must face.
Why does pile direction change the apparent shade?
A velvet face is a pile. When you look into the pile, the cloth shows more of the side of the fiber and often looks deeper. When you look down the pile, more of the tip faces you and the same dye can look lighter. Rotate one cushion 180 degrees on a sofa and the pair can read as two colors under the same lamp.
The rule is optical and practical. It does not assign a percentage. We do not publish a universal shading tolerance for every velvet. Your program can set one. The supplier still needs the arrow and the light you used, or the percentage has nothing to attach to.
Warp-knitted velvet construction is explained in the warp-knitted velvet article. Chenille and velvet are compared in the chenille and velvet article. This page stays on direction and the shade comment that follows from it. Chenille loop cloth does not use this arrow rule. If the face is chenille, send that comparison article’s question instead of a pile arrow.
Brush the pile with your hand on the sample and draw the arrow the way the hand moved when the face looked correct for the sofa. That arrow is the cutting instruction. A second person should be able to repeat the brush and land on the same arrow.
How should a marker record direction before cutting?
Put one arrow on the marker and the same arrow on the approval sample. Say whether the arrow points to the top of the back cushion, to the front of the seat, or to another edge you choose. Use the same sentence on every panel in the set. Mixed sentences are how a left arm and a right arm leave the table in opposite directions.
| Record | What to write | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Arrow | One direction, drawn on the sample and on the marker | Cutter |
| Reference edge | The sofa edge the arrow points toward | Sewing and upholstery |
| Light | The lamp or window you used for the shade comment | Anyone who rechecks the set |
| Lot and roll | The identity printed on the piece you approved | The next roll that must join the set |
| Comment | The shade difference you accepted, described in words | The approval file |
Cut the large faces from one roll when the set has to sit in one room. A second roll can match the lab dip and still show a small step in pile lay. If you must join rolls, put the join where the sofa design already breaks the surface, and record which panels came from which roll.
Standard upholstery quantity on this site is 1200 meters per color. Direction control does not change that published quantity. It does change how you use the meters: one approved arrow, applied to every panel in the set.
What does a hypothetical two-panel sofa show?
Picture a hypothetical two-seat sofa. Both back panels are cut from one velvet roll. On panel L the arrow points up. On panel R the arrow points down. Under a window the pair looks like a pale panel beside a deep panel. The dye lot is the same. The arrows are not.
| Panel | Arrow | What the viewer sees | Decision in the example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back L | Up, matching the approved sample | The agreed face | Keep |
| Back R | Down, opposite the sample | A lighter or deeper face from the same cloth | Recut so the arrow matches L |
| Seat pair | Both forward, matching each other | A pair that reads as one color | Keep, and use the same sentence on the next sofa |
Recutting panel R is the decision inside this example because the brief asked for one apparent color across the back. A different brief might accept a deliberate direction change as a design break. The sample has to say which brief you are in. The cloth cannot infer it.
Does an embossed face follow the same direction rule?
A glue-embossed or pressed pattern adds a second visual system. The pile may still have a direction, and the pressed motif has an orientation of its own. Record both. Matching the motif while reversing the pile, or matching the pile while rotating the motif, can each make a pair of panels disagree.
Treat the solid Holland face and the embossed face as different approval samples when both are in the program. One arrow sentence can serve the solid pile. The embossed cloth needs the motif called out as well. Approving one photograph for both constructions leaves the cutter without the second instruction.
What should the approval sample include?
Send a marked sample large enough to show the arrow, the lot or roll code, and the light you used. Name the sofa edges the arrow points to. If an embossed motif is part of the design, mark the motif’s upright position on the same card.
We will use that card to talk about the next rolls in the same color. The card does not publish a universal tolerance, and it does not approve a different construction. If the quantity is standard upholstery, keep 1200 meters per color in the commercial line of the same message so the cutting rule and the order quantity remain separate.
Send it through the quote page or Request With WhatsApp. Put the arrow description in the first line.
