Quote Originally Posted by figheadair View Post
What stripe (colour) appears at the selvedge of any tartan, symmetric or asymmetric, is a function of how the weaver/mill setts the loom.

In the case of an asymmetric sett it's their choice where to start at the selvedge but commonly this will be affected by the size of the sett and whether the cloth is single or double width. Historically (C19th and later) tartan was set to give a dark border, probably because a paler one will show the dirt over time when used for kilting. Personally I would never weave a piece with a lighter colour at the selvedge and so set the pattern to ensure a darker colour at the edge.

The direction of the twill is irrelevant to the making of a kilt but as commercial weavers have their cloth finished (washed and rolled) there is, in their eyes, a finished side, the so called good face. If a piece of cloth has a twill that runs bottom left to top right when laid out, turning it over will give a face that runs bottom right to top left. Making a kilt with the good face inside or out will make no difference to how the material hangs or your kilt looks.
This is a really good insight - something I was not aware of. For some reason, I believed that the selvedge was the pivot point, to give the maximum number of setts across the cloth. In truth, I don't really understand, but are you saying that this is not so?

Regards

Chas