Solution for an ugly tuck-in selvedge

[Barb T]

I was laying out a kilt yesterday and discovered the ugliest tuck-in selvedge I've ever seen on a piece of kilt fabric. The fabric is double width, and one selvedge is fine, but the other looked like this on what I consider to be the right side of the fabric:



For some reason, the loom didn't cut off the turned threads flush with the fabric, and the cut threads formed a 1/4" fuzzy fringe all along the length of the fabric. One solution would have been to make the kilt with the wrong side up - for those of you who don't make kilts, this isn't the end of the world, because, unlike printed fabrics, tartan looks the same on both sides. But, traditionally, kilts are made with the twill line slanting from right hip to the lower left corner of the apron, and that would have put the fuzzy selvedge on the right side of the kilt.

So, I trundled over to Walmart and bought a $5, battery-operated fabric shaver with a small head (this little cheapie one has a head only about 1 1/2" across). I put the tartan over my knee to curve the fabric and make the fringe stand up a little, and I shaved the fringe off. Didn't touch the tartan at all.

You'll see the difference below!! On the left, you'll see the shaved part. Not only is that awful fringe gone, but the black stripe that was hidden by the fringe now shows. I left some of the fringe on the right so that you could see the difference.



As I was shaving the tartan, my husband looked over and said, "I can see an XMarks post coming...."

[Hendry]

Hey, I've seen that tartan somewhere before, lol!

[Barb T]

Hey, I've seen that tartan somewhere before, lol!

Yah - it is your tartan. It will look much better made into a kilt with the fringe shaved off!!!

[jhockin]

Yah - it is your tartan. It will look much better made into a kilt with the fringe shaved off!!!

Since you are presently working with this specific material, could you please tell me the width of the sett ( so I can check my understanding & measurement; And: is an symetric taratan [as I think} or an asymetrical tartan)?
thanks
jhockin

[Barb T]

Since you are presently working with this specific material, could you please tell me the width of the sett ( so I can check my understanding & measurement; And: is an symetric taratan [as I think} or an asymetrical tartan)?
thanks
jhockin

It's the Ancient MacNaughton, and the sett is roughly 10". Although at first glance, it looks like the sett ought to be from one narrow blue/black/blue stripe to the next, adjacent blocks with these stripes are actually different. The "A" center stripe below is bordered on both sides by red then blue, and the "B" center stripe is bordered on both sides by red then green. So the full sett is measured between the two "A" center stripes. And it is a symmetric tartan - you can fold the tartan on either the A stripe or the B stripe, and it's identical in either direction.



And, just as an aside since I've posted stuff before on ABAC tartans such as the Black Watch, the MacNaughton is *not* an ABAC tartan.

[RockyR]

And, just as an aside since I've posted stuff before on ABAC tartans such as the Black Watch, the MacNaughton is *not* and ABAC tartan, because the black stripes are not pivots.

I always considered this one an ABAC tartan and am pretty sure that the black stripes are pivots. I chacked the STA's thread count and show it as "K4B4SL52B26K26HG50SL52B4K4" (for those who don't know, 'K' is black). It shows a K on both ends which I believe would make that the pivot.

What is the reason that it's not an ABAC tartan? I'm not trying to be rude, I am honestly curious b/c I know you're very knowledgable in these things...

[runewolf]

Those things are handy for all sorts of things! My wife didn't understand why I was upset when I couldn't find mine until I showed her one of my favorite white dress shirts with several little pills on it that made me not want to wear it.

[RockyR]

If it's Lochcarron Strome, then the 'good side' IS the twill running this direction: ////

If it's ANY OTHER kind of tartan fabric, then the twil should be going this direction: \\\

I spoke to Doug, the sales manager for Lochcarron, and he explained (in great detail) how they do their selvedge and that on their Strome (16 oz wool) fabric, the selvedge comes out backwards, but on every other line of their fabrics (Brareach, reiver, etc) and any other mill's fabric, they do it the 'regular' direction.

I've thought about using the shaver for that exact purpose... glad to see it worked! I'll have to go pick one up.

[Barb T]

If it's Lochcarron Strome, then the 'good side' IS the twill running this direction: ////

If it's ANY OTHER kind of tartan fabric, then the twil should be going this direction: \\\

The tartan in the photo isn't Lochcarron tartan, actually, and I've never seen this kind of horrible fringe on Lochcarron tartan (although maybe some of the rest of you have).

Just as another note, Lochcarron used to weave their fabric with the right side \\\\\\. When they switched to the tuck-in selvedge, they switched twill directions on their Strome for the right side of the fabric. I actually still try to use Lochcarron fabric with the \\\\\ as the right side. Sometimes this requires working their thread joins to the other side of the fabric. And the Lochcarron selvedge is pretty good on both sides, at least in the Strome pieces that I've used in the last few years.

[ChattanCat]

The tartan in the photo isn't Lochcarron tartan, actually, and I've never seen this kind of horrible fringe on Lochcarron tartan (although maybe some of the rest of you have).

Just as another note, Lochcarron used to weave their fabric with the right side \\\\\\. When they switched to the tuck-in selvedge, they switched twill directions on their Strome for the right side of the fabric. I actually still try to use Lochcarron fabric with the \\\\\ as the right side. Sometimes this requires working their thread joins to the other side of the fabric. And the Lochcarron selvedge is pretty good on both sides, at least in the Strome pieces that I've used in the last few years.

I have been perplexed with the selvage tuck in that I have seen on the Strome. On some of the selvage in needs to be this side but down the selvage the tuck in seems to reverse. All I can figure is that the material has fuzz that comes out the other side. I will try the //// option next time.