Recreating a tartan fabric?

[JamesMcGill]

I have recently ordered some swatches in the MacGill tartan(My name). My dilemma is that purchasing fabric from the U.S is not possible and fabric ordered from Scotland is super expensive even for reiver material. I really can't afford to buy the premade MacGill kilt from Scotland and/or buy material and then have it made here in the U.S. So I guess my question is, is it possible to use the swatch that I have and somehow have it recreated professionally? maybe something like a fabric scanner for pattern accuracy? company recommends or other suggestions?

[HeathBar]

I'm not sure what a fabric scanner is or how its used in producing tartan material. But most weavers have a minimum yardage when doing a custom run of anything. I've seen everything from 30 yds to 100yds. If you are wanting material to have a kilt made, then your best option is to get it from one of the Scottish mills. Yes, its expensive. But consider it an investment. A kilt will often out live its original owner. If buying an 8yd kilt is still out of the question, have you considered lower yardage kilts? That will reduced the price some.

[Chas]

Tartans are woven according to the 'Threadcount'. Both the Scottish Register of Tartans and the Scottish Tartans Authority will be able to give you the threadcount for McGill.

There must be hundreds of weaving mills in the US and I do not believe that the fabric that they make is in any way inferior to the Scottish product.

Regards

Chas

[MacMillans son]

Welcome aboard James!

Quality tartan fabric certainly is not cheap, but it may not be as bad as your initial research indicates.

I checked the "Heritage of Scotland" website and they have Mcgill tartan, both ancient and modern, for about $57 a meter double width. You would need aprox. 3.5 meters of double width fabric for a traditional 8 yard kilt. That's about $200 + shipping of about $30 to get it to you. If that initial investment is not too prohibitive, you could then wait and save to pay for the additional labor to have the kilt constructed in the U.S. by one of our quality kilt makers for an additional $200-$300 labor. That would give you a kind of "pay as you can" option that you may not have if you order a kilt made out right from a kilt maker.

However, if you are willing to save all of the money and pay all at once, then having a kilt maker order the fabric and make the kilt may actually be a more cost effective option, as you would not have to have to pay to have the material shipped twice (once to you then again to the kilt maker).

Just some options.

Good luck, and again, Welcome to Xmarks!!

Brooke

[RockyR]

Tartans are woven according to the 'Threadcount'. Both the Scottish Register of Tartans and the Scottish Tartans Authority will be able to give you the threadcount for McGill.

There must be hundreds of weaving mills in the US and I do not believe that the fabric that they make is in any way inferior to the Scottish product.

Regards

Chas

Let me know when you find them and if they weave tartans!

[Chas]

Let me know when you find them and if they weave tartans!

You, obviously, have me at a disadvantage Rocky and although not wanting to doubt your word, I find it almost impossible to believe. Are you seriously telling me that there are no mills weaving tartan in the whole of the United States. How did the US get itself in to such a position? Are all the twills imported, or is there no market to make it viable?

I had assumed (obviously incorrectly) that with a population of 300 million, that there would be a thriving weaving industry. Where does it all come from - China?

In bewilderment, Regards

Chas

[artificer]

THIS Ralph Neilson?

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&expIds=...41562a61b59af3

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...nsman+knitwear

Search the forum threads and do some homework on Clansman Knitwear / Ralph Neilson before ordering.

I'll add to Rocky's links with THIS little eye-opener

You, obviously, have me at a disadvantage Rocky and although not wanting to doubt your word, I find it almost impossible to believe. Are you seriously telling me that there are no mills weaving tartan in the whole of the United States. How did the US get itself in to such a position? Are all the twills imported, or is there no market to make it viable?

I had assumed (obviously incorrectly) that with a population of 300 million, that there would be a thriving weaving industry. Where does it all come from - China?

In bewilderment, Regards

Chas

The US USED to have a lot of mills, most jobs were shipped overseas in the mid 90's when cheap labor really 'came online'. North Carolina was especially hard hit.

[RockyR]

You, obviously, have me at a disadvantage Rocky and although not wanting to doubt your word, I find it almost impossible to believe. Are you seriously telling me that there are no mills weaving tartan in the whole of the United States. How did the US get itself in to such a position? Are all the twills imported, or is there no market to make it viable?

I had assumed (obviously incorrectly) that with a population of 300 million, that there would be a thriving weaving industry. Where does it all come from - China?

In bewilderment, Regards

Chas

I'll echo Artificer's comments:

The US USED to have a lot of mills, most jobs were shipped overseas in the mid 90's when cheap labor really 'came online'. North Carolina was especially hard hit.

the majority of the material here is imported from China and the like. I've been to "fabric Row" in Philadelphia and NUMEROUS fabric stores here in PA, NY, NJ and VA (different states) and always come across VERY poor quality fabric in tartan... NEVER quality tartan fabric (on par with UK woven stuff). I have seen high quality FABRIC, but never in tartan.

There are a number of mills who shut down due to globalization and cheap labor coming out of the far east. I'm not saying all the US Mills are gone, but I don't know of any that weave tartan suitable for kiltmaking. The closest we have is Frasier and Kirkbright in Canada, though I prefer UK cloth to theirs.

Also, please note my comments in my initial post were sort of 'tongue in cheek' and no malice was intended, Chas. It's sometimes hard to convey subtleties of the spoken word into read-able text.

[ForresterModern]

If this is your tartan:

http://www.scottish-tartans-world-re...px?record=1487

then this may be your lucky day. A relatively new Scotland based outfit from outside of Glasgow recently opened a new website, and is offering a 20% discount (as listed on their main webpage ---code "speclaunch01"). If you go to their kilt page for a gents classic machine stitched kilt you can order one in ANY tartan listed in their registry reference, and in whatever weight tartan is available, and if not available in stock they will weave it at whatever weight you want as a special order for no additional cost. They will then build it up into a machine sewn kilt for right around $300 USD and ship it to you ground transit for free. At least that is what they told me when I ordered my similar kilt in special weave Brown Douglas tartan 16oz. Ordered over a month ago and was told to expect it in about 12 weeks. Email confirrmation and everything.

Home page
http://www.thetartanstore.co.uk/

8 yd machine sewn classic kilt page
http://www.thetartanstore.co.uk/clas...ched-kilt.html

Granted, this is a relatively new website and probably nobody here has any significant history with this outfit, so no absolute guarantees of quality, but from all the exchanges I had with them they seemed as knowledgeable about kilts as several other established vendors I have worked with in Scotland. Plus I have a satisfaction guarantee on my credit card so I have a bit of backup if it shows up looking shabby. Worth a shot IMHO. Not sure how long it will take them to close this loop hole----an 8yd kilt in any tartan listed in the registry for $300 shipped to the US. Tough to beat that deal.

YMMV. Caveat emptor and all that. Oh, and welcome to the rabble.

jeff

[ForresterModern]

MacGill Modern is a Lochcarron weave in 10 and 16 oz, while MacGill Ancient is a Lochcarron weave in 16 oz. They make great quality tartan, one of the "cadillac's" of the industry, not cheap but probably worth the bit of extra cost. At least it is not a special weave, which can be far more expensive. Biggest issue is whether or not it is in stock somewhere.

Good luck. Hope this info helps.

j