Weaving tartan (pics)

[Brian F]

This thread makes me want to run out and buy a loom...since I have a friend that spins thread, I see a truly authentic great kilt or phillabeg in the works...

Duh-duh-DUNH!!!

[Pleater]

Another thing to consider is the size of the sett - the thinner the threads the smaller the sett will be, not a problem with a tweed, but some of the larger setts could become unmanageable if done in anything but the finest yarns.

Personally I would prefer to weave the material to the exact specification of the kilt - that is with a selvage top and bottom.

With 60 inch wide material there will be wasted fabric, and the loom would be more mechanised - it requires a flying shuttle, where something narrower can be spanned by more primitive working methods.

[Phil]

I photographed this loom in the Edinburgh museum yesterday. Is this the sort of thing you are thinking of upgrading to?

[Barb T]

Another thing to consider is the size of the sett - the thinner the threads the smaller the sett will be.

Actually, this isn't strictly true. Tartan sett is specified in proportions, not in threads. So BK2, R16, BK16, Y2, BK16, R16 is the sett for the Wallace. The BK2 could be 2 threads, 2", 2', or whatever. If BK2 had 4 threads, then everything else would be doubled (R16 would have 32 red threads, etc.) The sett is always specified in multiples of two because, in a tartan, you never have a color block less than two threads. So, you could have a huge sett or small sett with exactly the same thread depending upon how many threads you assign to the BK2 block.

What Pleater says is _generally_ true - if you order the same tartan from Lochcarron in 10 oz and 16 oz, the sett will typically be smaller in the lighter weight tartan. But for a tartan with a big sett (such as the Black Watch), a mill will change the number of threads while keeping the proportions the same in order to keep the tartan sett size from ballooning out of control in the heavier weaves.

You're set as long as you don't have a huge sett that has a color block with only two threads. That's the issue with the Weathered Stewart Old Sett (see http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=29092). It has a 15" sett, but one of the color blocks is only 2 threads, so the mill couldn't shrink the size of the sett proportionately to make it easier for kiltmakers. It's probably why they don't weave it any more.

B

[Peter C.]

This is a very interesting thread, I am learning a lot.

Considering all the difficulties there are to weaving tartan, it looks from the pictures as though ChromeScholars girlfriend is doing a pretty good job. Her selvedges are certainly better than the fabric I got from Fraser and Kirkbright which had dark lines about 1/2in in from the edge on the dark color.

ChromeScholar, if you and your girlfriend enjoy what you are doing, get that bigger loom and go for it.

peter