MacDonald Muted: Which Weaver?

**Fit2BKilted** · 15th January 10, 09:47 PM

Alright, I'm buying a new kilt, now that I have cash from the sale of a hallowed Falcon pool cue.

I fancy a MacDonald tartan for this tank; but, I'm not fond of how near-black the Modern colours tend to run, or the orange-reds in the Ancient palettes; so, I find myself taken by the Muted colour-way for it's scarlet-red and distinct blue & green... The question is: "Which mill produces the best cloth for the price?"

Scanning Scotweb's offerings, I find only two mills producing the Muted MacDonald:

House of Edgar (13oz. £222)

and N Batley (16oz. £195)

Does anyone have specific experience with either of these mills' fabrics, or know of other producers of MacDonald Muted-colourway tartan? I'd be happy for your opinions, since I'm buying 'in-the-dark' (because the cost of getting swatches of each is about as much as the saving of going with the cheaper product)

Nonetheless, I'm leaning toward the N Batley right now because it's heavier, cheaper, and appears to have a deeper red; but, I don't know what the selvedge is like... :-|

**ForresterModern** · 16th January 10, 04:44 AM

I have both HoE and Batley products in 13oz but no Batley in 16 oz. Both are fine fabrics for kilting and should work well for you. The HoE has a slightly smoother finish than the Batley but not enough to keep me from buying a kilt in it, and the colors in HoE fabric tend to be fairly vivid while those in Batley tend to be somewhat more sedate overall, IMHO, from seeing them side by side in swatch sample books a couple times. Overall, I think the cost savings and heavier weight of the Batley would make it my choice given similar coloring.

Good luck with your choice---pictures need be forthcoming of the outcome of your choice.

jeff

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 16th January 10, 05:22 AM

I don't have experience with N. Batley mills, but I do with House of Edgar. I can tell you that the House of Edgar is the originator of the "muted" color scheme, and it's something that particular mill is rather known for. Their fabric also has a superb kilting selvedge.

All other factors being equal, though, I do have a general preference for 16 oz vs. 13 oz cloth.

**RockyR** · 16th January 10, 06:18 AM

I have used both Batleys and HOE's cloth. They're both very nice... HOE has a proper kilting selvedge while batley uses a tuck selvedge (which is fine as well). For me, it would come down to a prefference in weight.

There's also a MacDonald Weathered by Lochcarron which is SIMILAR to the muted colors, but different.

Also, if you are interested in MacDonald Clanranald (only difference is a white 'box'), there are 2 more mills that produce Muted colors...

Marton Mills:

Strathmore:

**Sir William** · 16th January 10, 07:05 AM

If in doubt, especially since computer monitors don't necessarily show the true colors, I'd order swatches of those you're interested in and make a decision after you've seen the actual fabric.

**OC Richard** · 16th January 10, 07:05 AM

I used to own a kilt in House of Edgar's muted MacDonald. The colours are lovely, and I highly recommend it.

The colours of my kilt looked very much like the LOWER large photo in the original post: the red was a lovely claret, the blue a soft muted blue, the green with an olive tinge.

**BEEDEE** · 16th January 10, 07:33 AM

Originally Posted by Sir William

If in doubt, especially since computer monitors don't necessarily show the true colors, I'd order swatches of those you're interested in and make a decision after you've seen the actual fabric.

I second Sir William's advice.

Brian

**fluter** · 16th January 10, 01:21 PM

Order swatches.

I expect you'll get them pretty quickly, and you'll be able to choose the colors based on actual fabric.

Having said that, I have a kilt in HoE muted colorway (the Wallace in my current avatar), and the fabric is superb. The availability of 16-ounce fabric might be a deciding factor, for me---but color would come first. The 13-ounce makes a darned nice kilt, so you should be well pleased with either one.

**MacAngus** · 16th January 10, 03:03 PM

I recently got a Muted MacDonald Kilt from House of edgar 13oz.
It's beautiful and fits better than most of my others.

**Fit2BKilted** · 17th January 10, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by BEEDEE

Originally Posted by Sir William

If in doubt, especially since computer monitors don't necessarily show the true colors, I'd order swatches of those you're interested in and make a decision after you've seen the actual fabric.

I second Sir William's advice.

Brian

Thanks, Rocky, for the selvedge information about the N Batley product.

I had already checked the costs of ordering swatches through ScotWeb, and they were going to be £15.03 ($25.10CAD) together, and only £1.94 of that appeared to be creditable against the price of the kilt... Maybe I will have to give them a call, and ask if they'll eat some or all of the (grossly inflated IMHO) £11.15 ($18.67CAD) shipping charges for the two swatches alone.

Curiously, I had initially planned on getting this kilt in House of Edgar's 16oz. MacDonald Ancient (£265.33) but...

...the longer I looked at it, the more the orangy-red (displayed by my computer screen) got on my nerves... I now know that I really want the 16oz. fabric... It's really a shame that HoE doesn't produce the Muted colourway in 16oz.

So, if I do go for ordering swatches, it will probably be between the 16oz. offerings. Maybe I'll try calling around to see if anyone has tartan swatch-books locally... Personally I'd rather have a couple extra pairs of hose in the order than pay so much for the swatches; but, I know that buying a kilt that I'll hate would be infinitely worse.

I'm so Scottish I'm prone to squeak when I walk.

but you won't be able to hear it in the pictures I post when I finally get to wear my newest LAV (Lordly Arran Vestment AKA "tank").