Sourcing Guides
How to choose, specify, sample and order woven fabric for a collection: GSM, width, MOQ, lead times and what to ask a mill.
- Fabric Weight Explained: GSM, oz/yd² and Grams per Running Metre
GSM is the weight of one square metre of cloth in grams. Divide it by 33.9 for ounces per square yard, the unit American buyers quote. Multiply it by the width in metres for the weight of one running metre, which is what a mill weighs when it sells by the kilo.
Updated 2026-10-19
- How to Read a BTCPL Swatch Card: Shades, Count, Construction and Stock
A page in a BTCPL swatch book is one design. A large swatch shows the base cloth and smaller pinned swatches lettered A to G show the other shades it is stocked in. The printed header gives the design number, count, construction, quantity and finish, and the design number is what you quote in an enquiry.
Updated 2026-10-19
- How to Read a Woven Fabric Specification: Count, Construction, Width and GSM
A woven fabric specification tells you what the cloth is made of (composition), how fine the yarn is (count), how densely it is woven (construction, in threads per inch), how wide it is, and how heavy it is (GSM). Read together, those five lines are enough to compare two fabrics without touching either.
Updated 2026-10-05
