Hound’s tooth or Chicken’s foot

Houndstooth bedhead designed and handwoven by Corrin McNamara

Houndstooth is one of those patterns that can feel both classic and bold. A deceptively simple check morphs into jagged, graphic forms that give the cloth its energy. Traditionally woven in a two-colour contrast, it sits somewhere between order and disruption.

The name itself tells an interesting story. In Britain, “houndstooth” refers to the resemblance of the pattern’s shapes to a dog’s sharp, pointed tooth slightly irregular. It has a practical visual name. Travel across the Channel, however, and the same structure takes on a different identity. In French, it’s called pied-de-poule, or “chicken’s foot,” evoking a more delicate, splayed form. Same weave, entirely different imagery.

Structurally, houndstooth is a variation of a twill, built through a clever arrangement of light and dark threads in both warp and weft. The pattern emerges not from complexity of technique, but from precision in planning where blocks of colour shifting at just the right moment to create that characteristic ‘tooth.’ It’s a good reminder that striking design doesn’t always require elaborate weaving, just thoughtful decisions.

Whether you see a dog’s tooth or a chicken’s foot, houndstooth is ultimately about perception—how a simple grid can transform into something dynamic through contrast and repetition. It’s a small lesson in how much personality can live inside a weave.