Tartan Weaving

[Barb T]

Hi guys

Hand weaving tartan that is hard and tight enough for a kilt is really a tough job. If you look, for example, at Lochcarron's 16 oz (Strome) weight, it's about 48 threads per inch. Lighter tartan has even more threads per inch. The threads are packed pretty tightly in order to give the hard dense weave of tartan, and weaving fine wool thread at a large number of picks per inch is a real challenge. Fine threads break easily, and packing them closely together means that they tend to stick together when you try to open the shed to throw the shuttle, making it very easy to catch the shuttle and break threads. I've woven high-thread-count tartan before, but only for shirts, and it was many years ago. It was a challenge.

Because of the difficulties, hand woven tartan tends to be woven with heavier threads sett more widely, which produces a heavier and looser weave that is OK for a great kilt but won't produce a trad kilt that looks like what one expects from kilting tartan.

Cheers!

Barb

[Southern Breeze]

Thanks Barb. My curiosity has been apeased. Tartan weaving is not on my to-do list. (maybe in the far distance future.)