How a cloth looks in a swatch vs. how it looks made up

[Merc]

What you're all describing is the same as the old problem with paint. On a 1x1" or 2x2" paint card a yellow may look great; on a wall it may be too damned much or it may be darker/lighter than the paint card.

What the real experts always did (with the exception of simple or bland background colors) is to buy a quart of paint instead of a gallon, buy a piece of board that's maybe 2 feet by 2 feet, paint it, let it dry and then stand back have a look.

Same concept with fabric

a bolt isnt the same as a whole jacket, but at least you get a sense of scale or repeat