MsEithne

Different computers render colour differently. Online colour rendition doesn't just involve one computer, it involves two (the one that processed the photo and the one downloading the photo off the internet). If the exact colour is important, always get a swatch. Expect to pay for it, naturally.

I've gotten fabric in the past that I didn't like the colour when I got it home. This always happened in stores where they had fluorescent lighting and heavily tinted windows (for energy savings). Out from under the fluorescent lighting, they just didn't look right to me.

So, I overdyed them! It's easy, it's interesting and now I have a truly unique fabric.

Overdyeing gives you the option to just shift colours slightly to completely changing them (for the darker). Plus you can choose to add more "texture" to the look of the fabric by choosing dyeing methods that lead to mottling, light to heavy.

I honestly can't imagine just returning a piece of all cotton fabric to the store for a refund when I can have so much more fun with it using fabric dyes.

And for that matter, there are stencils and/or rubber stamps to add pattern elements, using permanent markers to add freehand elements, etc.

Plus, there's the fact that when cut into patches, the surrounding fabrics affect the perception of colour in any single patch. This effect is more pronounced with small patches rather than large ones. Sometimes a colour that leaves me cold on its own is just the neutral, spark or background for a group of other fabrics.

It's like almonds--you can eat them raw, you can toast them, you can add them to a wide variety of dishes (not just Mandarin Chinese, either), you can candy them, you can grind them into flour for linzertorte, you can grind them into paste for marzipan... so many possibilities that it's never a mistake to throw a bag of almonds into the cart.