How to Read a Tartan Sett — tartan illustration

How to Read a Tartan Sett

A sett is the repeating block of coloured threads that defines a tartan. Read it once and the whole cloth makes sense: the sequence runs out to a pivot, mirrors back, and repeats across both the warp and the weft.

Because the same sequence runs in both directions, every crossing point blends two colours into a third. That is why a two-colour tartan still looks like it holds four or five shades.

Next time you pick up a scarf, find one full repeat and count the bands. The rest of the pattern is that count, over and over.

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