Colour Disclaimer

Fabric is one of the hardest things to photograph honestly. We take considerable care to represent our range as accurately as we can, but a screen can only get you so close. This page explains how to get the colour you're after, what variation is normal, and where your rights sit if something arrives that isn't what you ordered.

Getting the Colour You Want

Buy a small quantity. We sell most fabrics in quantities as low as 25cm. A 25cm tester tells you things a photo can't — the true shade in your own light, the weight, the hand, and how big the print actually reads. For any project where colour matters, it's worth the wait.

Ask us for a daylight photo. Email hello@brownscraftshed.com.au with the product name and we'll photograph the actual bolt in natural daylight and send it through. No charge, and it usually takes us a day or so. This is the fastest way to check a colour before committing.

Ask us to compare. If you're matching something you already own, or something you bought from us previously, tell us — we can often hold a sample against the bolt and give you an honest answer. We'd much rather say "that's not going to match" before you order than after.

Buy all you need in one go. This is the single most useful thing on this page. See below.

Dye Lots

Fabric is dyed in batches, and batches vary slightly. Two bolts of the same fabric, dyed months apart, can differ enough to be visible when placed side by side — even though both are exactly as the manufacturer intended. This is standard across the textile industry and isn't a fault. We recommend you buy the full amount you need in a single order. If you run short and reorder later, we can't guarantee the new fabric will match what you already have. Adding half a metre of insurance to your first order is far cheaper than losing the project.

Why Screen Colour Varies

Several things sit between the fabric on our shelf and the colour on your screen:

  • Device displays. Brightness, contrast, colour temperature and screen calibration vary widely across phones, tablets, laptops and monitors. The same photo can look noticeably different on two devices side by side.
  • Photography and lighting. Studio lighting, camera settings and processing all shift how a colour renders, particularly with deep saturated shades and anything with a sheen.
  • Ambient lighting. Daylight, fluorescent and LED lighting each affect how you perceive colour in person. A fabric that looks warm under household bulbs can read quite differently by a window.

None of these mean anything is wrong with the fabric. Minor differences in shade and tone between screen and cloth are normal.

Other Natural Variation

Print scale. Listing photos are cropped, so a print can read much larger or smaller in person than expected. If you're unsure how big a repeat is, ask and we'll measure it for you.

Texture and fibre. Slubs in linen, small irregularities in the weave, and variation in surface texture across natural fibres are characteristics of the material rather than defects. Cotton, linen and blends all show this to some degree.

Colour after washing. Some fabrics soften or shift very slightly on the first wash — this is normal. We recommend washing a swatch before you cut, particularly if you're combining fabrics from different ranges. Most fabrics require a cold, gentle machine wash, line dry.

Returns & Your Rights

Minor differences between the colour on your screen and the fabric in your hands are normal and aren't grounds for a return or exchange. The same applies to dye-lot variation between separate orders, and to the natural variation described above.

This applies to variation in shade and tone only.

If what arrives is materially different from what was pictured or described — a different colourway, a different print, or a different fabric altogether — that isn't screen variation. It's a supply error, and you're entitled to a full refund or replacement under the Australian Consumer Law. Contact us and we'll sort it out.

Nothing on this page excludes, restricts or modifies your rights under the Australian Consumer Law. See our full Returns & Refunds Policy.

Still Unsure?

Email hello@brownscraftshed.com.au before you order. Tell us what you're making and what you're trying to match, and we'll give you a straight answer — including "don't buy this one" if that's the honest response.

Last updated: 23/07/2026.