Scottish Wildcat Tartan: first look

[The Wizard of BC]

Alan, I really like your Tartan. Glen did a really good job on the thread count. I hope that it serves its purpose and that the proceeds help your cause.

[Alan H]

Thanks Steve.

[H. Hastings]

This has been a long week so far and I'll be the first to admit I've never been the sharpest tool in the shed but when I look at the photos in post #10 I calculate the warpwise sett at 20.7 cm not 21.7 (pin at 20 cm and another at 40.7). Am I not doing my math correctly?

[Alan H]

Paul Henry Scarf, made from the tartan....

https://scontent-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hp...6e&oe=558134D2

[Benning Boy]

The colors are beautiful, although obviously photographed under light that emphasizes the warm hues. I'll hold my breath until I can see my yardage, hoping it will be all that it appears to be. But Dalgliesh has clearly screwed up big time. They've failed tartan weaving 101 it seems to me. Any chance they will make it right. Why pay for A bespoke weave if all your going to get is slapdash work?

[Alan H]

OK, let's get some things straight, here. First, Harlan Hastings is correct, Paul made a math mistake. The sett in the second picture is 20.7 cm, not 21.7 cm. So the sett is 19.5 cm one way and 20.7 cm the other way. That's a difference of 1.2 cm out of square

For comparisons sake, I pulled down my six tartan kilts...leaving out the Gold Brothers kilt that I have. Here are the tartan weavers and the sett sizes.

Gray Stewart, old Ingles-Buchan springweight, smallish sett.. 12.5 x 11.5 cm... NOT SQUARE by 1 cm
Lindsay, modern wool/poly blend by Fraser and Kirkbright... 17.7 x 16 cm ... NOT SQUARE by 1.7 cm
MacNaughton, Ancient custom weave 16 ounce Merino wool by Fraser and Kirkbright ... 26.2 x 25 cm... NOT SQUARE by 1.2 cm
MacNaughton, weathered polyester-viscose by Marton Mills ... 19 x 17 cm ... NOT SQUARE by 2 cm.
California State, modern 16 ounce tartan by Locharron .... 15.8 x 17 cm ... NOT SQUARE by 1.2 cm
Capercaillie, modern 16 ounce tartan by Locharron... 16.2 x 16.2 cm.... wow this one actually is square!

So just because the tartan is "not square" by 1.2 cm over a 20 cm sett does not mean that it's "slapdash". Well, that or you believe that Locharron, Ingles-Buchan, Marton Mills and Fraser and Kirkbright regularly produced "slapdash" work. Out of the six good quality tartan kilts in my closet, five of them are made from fabric which does not have exactly square setts.

COLORS: You're probably thinking that the woven tartan isn't exactly like what was designed. You're right. Here's how the process works.

We inquired with SIX Scottish weaving houses about weaving the tartan: Knockando, Bute, Andrew Elliott, Locharron, House of Edgar and DC Dalgliesh. We did not inquire with Marton Mills because they are an English weaving house, and this is a Scottish cause.

Knockando didn't want the job at all. Bute makes tartan coated in teflon, it's intended for furnishings and also, they wouldn't guarantee to deliver *exactly* the yardage we requested. It would be +/- 5%. Andrew Elliott ....absolutely great people, but initially pretty slow in terms of communication. So we requested thread samples and specific pricing from 1.) Locharron 2.) House of Edgar 3.) DC Dalgliesh

Barb Tewksbury was heavily involved in getting thread samples. She had Dalgliesh thread samples in her house, so she shared those with McMurdo. House of Edgar and Locharron sent thread samples for the color palettes we requested.

Now, McMurdo used the STA tartan designer tool to put together the tartan and edit it. He used the "weavers colors" available in the design tool for thread colors. You would think that "weavers colors" means colors that weaving houses actually have in stock. Surprise!!!... it doesn't mean that. Every single weaving house has their own "stock" colors. We could have gotten closer to the designed colors by having the cloth woven using (If I remember correctly) three custom dye lots from House of Edgar. I believe we needed two custom dyes from Locharron (might be mistaken about that). As a general rule, add $15/yard to the sales price for every custom dyed thread that gets used. So while the HoE estimate for the stock colors tartan was lower than DC Dalgliesh's, the only way to get "closer" to the original design was to use three custom thread dyes. That would have jacked the price up $45 per yard.

Benning Boy, are you willing to spend $45 per yard more? It would have been about $90-$95 a yard. Not only that but remember, you are not the only customer, here. When the Facebook/XMTS "first run" is over, we hope to sell another couple hundred yards of the stuff to the general public for that reason that I can't really talk about here on XMTS. You know... that money thing about the wildcats. Barb, McMurdo and myself decided that instead of going for a blistering expensive fabric, we would pick the best stock colors we could from the three: Locharron, House of Edgar and DC Dalgliesh. We'd sacrifice some color trueness to the original design for a huge difference in price. McMurdo decided that the DC Dalgliesh palette was the closest to the original design, so that's what we went with.

As it stands as of this writing, I have not seen the fabric. However, Barb Tewksbury has, and she's pretty obviously over the moon about it. I figure, if Barb likes it, it's probably not junk.

If that makes the fabric "slapdash", then PM me and I will gladly refund your money. If you don't like the compromises we made between color and cost, I will gladly refund your money for that reason as well. I'll sell the yardage to someone else. It's not like there's a shortage of people who want it. I would appreciate it if you PM'd me this week, however, before I go to the trouble of cutting, packing and shipping your fabric. I will be doing that next Saturday evening, so please PM me this coming weekend or before, say, Thursday of next week. Thanks!

[Jock Scot]

On a lighter side of all this. Since when have the Scottish Wildcat had standardised outfits? Come on now, get real! Colour shades and total accuracy of detail does not matter one jot to a Wildcat! I really do think that we are fussing over not a lot, a few MM's? As Alan has so correctly pointed out, laser accuracy, is hardly an issue with tartans. Inches out, then of course there is an issue, however if it were me,------and it is not, I quite accept------I think I could live quite easily with the tartan in question(yes, I would prefer more grey, but.....) as is.

[marypenny]

Oh! As a seamstress ( and a very new-bee kiltmaker) let me just drool ever so slightly over that lovely material. The hand on that must be very soft. Beautiful, just beautiful.

[Benning Boy]

Don't get me wrong, I really like the colors in the Paul Henry pics, better than the weavers colors in all previous pics of the design published on XMarks. But being a pretty good photographer I can see a warm light, maybe natural light towards late afternoon, was used to make the photographs. That can greatly alter perception of color. I trust Barb's assessment implictly. So if she likes it, I probably will too. Just can't wait to see it.

Out of curiosity, I've measured 16 samples of tartan I have here in regimental weigh wool, 16 and 13 ounce wool, P/V and acrylic. Those by a mill that daren't be named are almost perfect, one being dead on square. Others by more northerly mills are more out of square, with an example by a mill located in the Scottish Lowlands being amongst the most out of square of the UK samples. Samples woven in the Highlands are all much closer to being square, only being a few millimeters off. By far the most out of square tartan I have is that in my Sportkilt. Who knows where than was woven. Of my sample selection are representatives of five Scottish Mills, a Canadian mill, and one that daren't be named, and two unknow mills, probably Pakistani.

Considering the most out of square, they are in order, Sportkilt, unknown Pakistani weaver supplying Stillwater, a Scots boutique weaver whose name I can't remember, but can look up if need be, and a Lowland weaver. The more northerly weavers are all pretty danged good. However, the mill that daren't be named is the best. You can't get much better than perfect.

[MacKenzie]

... I would prefer more grey, but.....

I think you will like this pleating option that Barb posed on farcebook. I know I like it best.