Tartan fabrics from "less well-known" mills...

[davidlpope]

There's been several threads that have discussed fabric from mills other than the big three: Lochcarron, House of Edgar, and Strathmore, but it seems most folks hadn't had any interaction with either Batley or Marton Mills. I decided to take a chance and order enough tartan in a couple different setts to either 1) Have Matt Newsome make some box-pleats out of them or 2) try my hand at making some myself when the new "Art of Kiltmaking" comes out.

I ordered three tartans: Lennox, Lochaber, and Cairngorm, from Kiltstore.net and they arrived today. The prices were very reasonable for the doublewidth, heavyweight wool fabric and I am pleased with them. The Lochaber was advertised as "weathered" but turned out to be in the ancient color scheme- there wasn't a picture for that particular sett on the website, so I knowingly took a chance when ordering. Even though it wasn't what I anticipated, it's a gorgeous tartan and has a sett width of 13.25 inches!!! Either really big box pleats or perhaps pleat half-setts. The Lennox is really nice and one of the older setts that can be dated. These two tartans came from Marton Mills.

The Cairngorm tartan was from Batley Mills and seems to be a more recent trade/district tartan. I just liked the colors of it. Even though it is a recent design, it had the look of an older tartan and is in nice muted colors.

Both mills seem to produce a fabric that is well-woven and attractive. It's approximately the same weight as my Lochcarron 16oz kilts, although it seems to be a bit less "hairy" and is woven a little more tightly. The selvedge is a little more noticeable, but not unattractive. I think my top choice is still D.C. Dalgleish's heavyweight tartans, but these two mills, for the price, produce a good product in some tartans that aren't available from the big three. I'll be glad to wear them in a kilt.

You can see pics at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/davidlewispope

Cordially,
David

[Tattoo Bradley]

Those tartans are all VERY nice. SOO... You're the lucky fellow with the American Bic. tartan Matt mentioned a short time ago. That kilt is GORGEOUS. That tartan seems to be pretty tough to come by. I'm jealous. I love Matt's work. I need to get some more box pleated kilts made by him. And after looking back at his site (Matt) I realize why you look so familiar.

[BEEDEE]

I'm jonesing a kilt from Rocky in Marton Mills Crest range County Antrim. Will post more when it comes.

Brian

[Martin S]

A follow-up question:
Who or what is "Glena", the abbreviation for one of the weaver of many tartans shown on Kiltstore's site?

Martin

[cacunn]

Did you order direct from the mill or did you go through retail shop?

[auld argonian]

When I was looking for the Campbell of Cawdor tartan it looked like one of the smaller mills did a darker version than Lochcarron...I, of course, would have prefered a darker version if I could have gotten it. There was some discussion about Duncan's kilt from MOTG...the consensus was that it was Hunting Stewart but it was a very dark version of it that must have been woven at a smaller mill. The old canard that "colors on your monitor may vary" certainly applies...too bad that there's not some kind of reference standard that could be applied. I know from personal experience that photographing fabric, whether with digital or conventional film, is difficult because the sensor/film emulsion reacts differently to the light reflected from the dyes in the fabric...several years of shooting Sears towels for the catalog and being driven to the point of madness trying to get this year's shot to match up with last year's shot teaches you valuable lessons.

I guess that all you can do is ask for a swatch ahead of time...which means tempering your desire and being even more patient while waiting for that new kilt that you so richly deserve.

One of the nice things about Highland Games is that the merchants bring the swatch books along so you can get at least a basic idea of what's goin' on.

Best

AA

[Tattoo Bradley]

One of the nice things about Highland Games is that the merchants bring the swatch books along so you can get at least a basic idea of what's goin' on.

Best

AA

Being a tartan junkie, I want one or several of those books. Just for admiration and browsing purposes of course...

[auld argonian]

Being a tartan junkie, I want one or several of those books. Just for admiration and browsing purposes of course...

I'd haunt ebay....one might turn up somewhere, sometime....

Best

AA

[Barb T]

A follow-up question:
Who or what is "Glena", the abbreviation for one of the weaver of many tartans shown on Kiltstore's site?

Martin

This is not something that the Kiltstore folks are willing to share - they are understandably not happy to have you go around them and order directly from the mill.

I think Marton Mills is a very good buy in tartan. I just made a kilt in their Scottish-American 16 oz, and it's a nice substantial tartan. I don't like their selvedges much, but they are better than some that have been previously discussed on this forum. DC Dalgliesh is by far my favorite for quality, but they don't have a very big range in heavy weight tartans. Their real forte is 11-12 oz dress tartan for dancers and their one-off custom weaves.

Cheers,

Barb

[sjrapid]

Glena is likely to be Glen Affric Weavers.

Best regards