Leather Swatches

Order leather swatches and see what your design will look like when you order in large scale. Design leather sample swatches to see an approximately Half or Quarter Letter size print of your work, on your chosen leather. Ideal if you want to view it as a miniature, or if you are looking to have your leather swatches show a cross section of your final piece. 

Try out multiple different types of leather and see which one you feel makes your design really stand out, to give you the perfect finished piece.  Available in approximately Half or Quarter Letter size, depending on the scale and level of detail that you require. You can order leather swatches using the exact same professional methods that we use on every single leather print, large or small. 

Half Letter - 5.8 x 8.3"
Quarter Letter - 4.1 x 5.8"

You can order your custom leather samples in either portrait or landscape orientation.
 

Paper Types

• Soft White Nappa - textured (0.7-0.9mm)
• Soft White Nappa - smooth (1.4mm)
• Bubble Texture Nappa (1.6mm)
• Fine French Calf (1.3-1.5 mm)
• Leather Board (2 mm)
• Double Butt (2.4-2.6 mm)

Sizing For Hemming And Shrinkage

We have a full Cut & Sew service here at Contrado, and are able to hem your fabric prints for a small additional charge. We create a small one- or two-fold hem that typically uses 0.2" to 0.75" (5-20mm) of material, depending on the thickness of the fabric. So, for example, if you want a finished piece of fabric that measures 39.37" x 39.37", you will need to order a size of 39.96" x 39.96" to allow for the hem (on top of that please also allow for shrinkage of min 2%). The thicker the fabric, the bigger the hem will be. You can choose to have your prints hemmed with either Black or White thread. On our silk and other light woven fabrics, one hemmed edge will be straight (vertically down the roll) and the other will be slightly rippled. The hemming material allowances are as follows and you need to make your print bigger to accommodate the hem:

• Light Fabrics (0.59oz-2.95oz): For silks and other light fabrics, we use 0.24" - 0.32" / 6mm-8mm in the hem (2 fold), so overall width/height will be minus 0.48"-0.56""/ 12-16mm
• Medium Fabrics (2.98oz-5.90oz): For medium-weight fabrics that fray, we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (2 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.4" - 1.6" / 35-40mm
• Stiff/Heavy/No-fray fabrics: we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (1 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.5" / 35-40mm

All of these measurements are approximate and can vary. Including with shrinkage, it can mean a fairly significant difference to ordered dimensions, so please plan your print accordingly. Depending on how open the weave is, our fabric can shrink anywhere from 2% to 8% with the average being 2.5%.

How Would you Like the Edge?

• As it comes. We cut around your image, leaving a simply scissor cut, perhaps uneven white fabric border. 
• Hem with thread. We can hem your fabric with a choice of black or white thread. Please allow 1-2 days additional production time. See below for information on how hemming affects the size of your print. We offer an overlock hem, as well as a folded hem (one or two fold depending on the fabric) however not all fabrics are suited to both hem types. If you can see both options, it means both are suitable, and you will be able to choose whichever you prefer. 
• Cut on the line. We will cut neatly on the edge of your design. This means that if you have a border around your design we will cut around that border, if your design takes the whole space of the fabric, then we will neatly cut around the edge of that image. Please be aware, when we cut along the line, we have to cut against the grain of the fabric. This is the standard procedure for fabric cutting. This means that with some fabrics, for example, Georgette and Mulmul, which have a slight wave in them, some fraying will occur. This is unavoidable, as the cut follows the grain of the textile. 

All of our fabrics are cut manually by hand, with the utmost care and attention. If your fabric has a slightly uneven look on the edges or a touch of fraying, this does not indicate a flaw in the textile. It is not always possible to achieve a perfectly straight cut with certain fabrics, so please do bare this in mind when it comes to your design. If you have any queries or would like to know about our cutting methods in more detail, please get in touch and we will be more than happy to discuss them with you.

Please note: As we make everything by hand, all sizes may vary slightly.

For further information about our fabrics see our FAQs.

Will these be different to my finished piece?

We make your Half or Quarter Letter sized leather swatches in exactly the same way that we would print any of your leather orders. That way you can be sure that the quality, detail, and textures that you see on your test prints are what you can expect from your final print.

Which way round does my design need to go?

Our design interface will default to a landscape orientation, however, depending on your design you can easily change this to landscape at the click of a button - ideal for if you are printing a cross section of your piece as you design leather samples.

What sizes do they come in?

Your printed leather samples are available in approximate Half or Quarter Letter size. Half Letter is 5.8 x 8.3" and Quarter Letter is 4.1 x 5.8".