Plaids and checks often overlap since there isn’t always a distinctionBird’s Eye -- worsted yarn woven with two light and two dark threads resulting in a small dot (like the eye of a bird) slightly less formal.
Barleycorn – blurry little corn triangles are achieved by contrasting the warp and weft threads for a twill weave cloth.
Crow’s feet -- small chevron pattern
Herringbone -- chevron pattern resembling the skeleton of a herring fish
Nail Head (also pick-and-pick) -- small dots
Check – a fabric design composed of alternate squares of colors in various sizes (checkerboard or Italian restaurant tablecloth) that are geometrical, repeating regularly.
Gingham – crossing lines of color (usually blue or red) alternating with white squares.
Gun Club – three color double check consisting of a large check over a smaller one.
Houndstooth -- a check that looks like four-pointed star or the teeth of dogs. The pattern can range in size from very small and most sophisticated to large and sporty (as in garish).
Pincheck – check made of very tiny squares
Shepherd’s – uniform ¼ " wide checks of white and another color (usually black)
Tattersall – check or plaid consisting of different colored lines on a plain, light colored ground. Named after Richard Tattersall, English horseman, founder in 1776 of Tattersall’s London Horse Auction Mart and taken from a pattern first used for horse blankets.
Windowpane – dark horizontal and vertical bars crossing over background giving the effect of a window divided into small panes.
Plaid – tartan pattern in stripes of different width running at right angles to form blocks.
Argyle – diamond shaped designs
Glen Plaid (actually Glenurquhart Plaid) -- Named after Glen Urquhard, a valley in Inverness Shire, Scotland is a boxlike design from horizontal and vertical stripes intersecting to form houndstooth sections crossing at right angles. Originally a fabric for country wear it’s now considered a sophisticated pattern acceptable for most business situations.
Hunting – version of a Scottish clan’s tartan made in subdued colors to blend in the landscape in contrast to dress plaid worn on ceremonial occasions.
Lumberjack -- medium size plaid used originally in lumbermen’s jackets.
Madras –cotton woven in East India with multicolor crossbar patterns. Bleeds after washing giving a blurred effect.