Colour in woven design

I. Dark brownish olive (No. 7) with dark green (No 1, Plate VI.).

II. Medium brownish olive (No. 8) with toned green (No. 2, Plate VI.).

III. Light brownish olive (No. 9) with medium green (No. 3, Plate VI.).

These shades also combine satisfactorily with the dark and deep blues given in Nos. 7, 8, and 9 of Plate IV.

From the orange tints (Nos. 10, 11, and 12, Plate VI.) it will be noticed that by mixing white with this secondary, salmon and gold colours are obtained. They are useful in making twist threads, and are also employed, to a considerable extent, in silk yarns in the manufacture of vestings, spotted textures, neckties, and fancies. Satisfactory styles result from combining them with either tints of green or blue.

32. Purple.—There is no colour comparable with purple (No. 6, Plate III.) as regards depth of hue. Its characterizing qualities are softness, bloom, and richness of tone. It is a composition of the warm and the cold, and the showy and the quiet elements of the spectrum, namely, of red and blue.

It only yields congruous combinations with a limited range of shades, and these generally belong to the derivatives of yellow. Purple and pure yellow form a very pronounced contrast—an example of which obtains in the common pansy. In this flower, the deep but lustrous tone of the purple opposes the luminous and pure hue of the yellow. From this natural combination of these tints, it is possible to learn with what class of colours purple will form the most effective contrasts. These are shades in which yellow preponderates, such as tans, light olives, and olive browns. To give bloom and richness of aspect to combinations of fawns, olives, and similar shades, purple, in conjunction with white, may be employed. Some excellent tapestries, bordered rugs, and travelling mauds are produced in which this hue is one of the principal colours.

The derivatives of purple are applied to dress fabrics, but are rarely used in textures for men’s wear, except for line striping and checking purposes. The examples given in the tints and shades of this colour, in Nos. 13 to 18, Plate VI., inclusive, show that its admixture with white produces hues of a lilac class, and with black, hues of a deep indigo blue character. Materials dyed alizarin blue possess a similar purplish bloom as these shades, being warmer and redder in tone than the pure indigoes they are dyed to imitate.

Though purple and its derivatives are not largely employed along with other colours in the construction of fancy patterns, yet they are of utility in the blending department of a woollen factory.