Tartan Challenge

[figheadair]

Given the length and width , the large sett ... and that it was joined in an " offset " manner , could this fabric have been a " great kilt " ?

The simple answer to that or course is that we will never know. It could have been but 40 inches is a tad narrow for a belted plaid and I'm inclined to think it was used differently.

Here's the techy bit.....

• Hand spun and hand woven at 52 epi.

• 20” single width offset with 2 half setts plus G16 R6 G4 R92 plus a 4 band herringbone selvedge mark.

• Naturally dyed: cochineal (red), indigo (blue), plus indigo and an unidentified yellow (green).

• The piece is the remnant of a larger plaid.

• The yarn used to initial and date the cloth differs from that of the actual plaid and indicates that the personalisation was done later than the weaving; i.e. the cloth is older than 1785. I suspect that the skilful overlocking at the fringed ends was done at the same time as the initials and date were added.

• The initials JS probably refer to the owner of the plaid in 1785. Generally initials were feminine and such pieces were done to mark a special occasion. These were often dowry pieces done by a women for their marriage and was something special that they brought to the new home.