Tartan Design Questions

[TheOfficialBren]

I would like to design a tartan to commemorate my upcoming nuptials. I would then like to have a kilt and some other items made. I'd like it to be heavy weight pure new wool. Knowing that it will take some time to do the job in full I'd like to start soon as we are tying the knot when I get home from deployment.

What is the first step that I need to take?
What are the necessary succeeding steps to take?

Thank you very much, friends, for your wealth of advice.

[McMurdo]

I would first go over to Scotweb and use the tartan designer

https://www.scotweb.co.uk/tartandesign/

This was my first step in designing the Scottish Wildcat Tartan. It took less than a year to get from design to fabric.

[Todd Bradshaw]

Yep, the Scotweb designer works very well (though it's kind of addictive - you've been warned). You might as well start with the "weaver's colors" selection. Pick four or five colors, adjust your yarn counts as desired and start designing. When you have a pattern you are liking, hit the "enlarge" button and it will give you a picture of it that looks very realistically like the woven cloth will appear. It's a user-friendly interface and fun to play with whether you eventually have one woven or not. Some of the tartan mills will weave as little as 8-12 meters of tartan in various weights. If needed, they will also usually mail you some actual yarn samples for verifying the colors before you have it woven. I don't know the typical turn around time, but I've had orders arrive at my door in as little as one or two months from final design confirmation. At this point, we have three versions of our tartan in hand, one more being woven as we speak and a final one to do sometime in the future (like I said...addictive).

[KyleAisteach]

I used Marton Mills to produce my tartan, because I wanted to do PV, but I, too, started with the ScotWeb Tartan Designer. Mine was about 6 months from design to bolt-in-hand. I do plan to have ScotWeb produce some proper wool kilts for me at some point, but the spouse and I are currently suffering from unstable waistlines and I'm not spending that kind of money until I believe the kilts will fit us for years to come.

[TheOfficialBren]

Thank you, sirs. Is there anything that I should keep in mind when designing said tartan? Form, thread count, things of that nature?

[KyleAisteach]

The ScotWeb design tool is pretty good about letting you know what size your sett will be based on what you're doing, and whether or not it's a good size for kilting. Bear in mind, however, that it bases its estimates on their heaviest wool option, so the sett will be smaller if you go for something lighter weight. But if you're registering the tartan, you're actually registering the ratio, not the specific thread count, so when Marton Mills made mine in PV, they upped the thread count to make the sett a more reasonable size for kilting (I designed it as a 6" sett, what they produced after upping the thread count is a 4.5" sett).

If you're using ScotWeb to produce the tartan/kilt for you, they will give you an option of three palettes to choose from, two of which will have very little resemblance to what you design, but are quite lovely. Don't obsess about particular shades, because they will, necessarily, change in production.

Having now made a kilt, I don't recommend designing an asymmetric tartan. I seriously debated it and am now very glad I didn't.

Those are the life lessons from having done this that I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are many more...

[davidlpope]

Your design reminds me of the Strachan tartan. Is the resemblance intentional?

[Dughlas mor]

To my less than discerning eye, it has a classic look to it, like it might have been designed a couple of hundred years ago. I like it.

[TheOfficialBren]

Thank you, Dughlas Mor and David Pope, for your kind words.

No, the design didn't intentionally come that close but I do like that other tartan. I've never seen it before but it's very nice!