End-on-end

End-on-end (also fil-à-fil) is a type of closely woven, plain weave cloth created by the alternation of light and dark warp and weft threads, resulting in a heathered effect.

The English term comes from the French "fil-à-fil", literally "thread-to-thread".

It is most commonly woven from cotton or linen fibers.

[1] End-on-end is typically woven using white thread with another color to create a fabric with a subtly heathered texture that, from a distance, appears as a solid color.

Occasionally, variations are seen which use two colors of thread (instead of white).

Example of blue end-on-end cloth. Scale shown in millimeters.
Example of light blue end-on-end cloth with white stripes. Scale shown in millimeters.