Sett size??

[Graham A. Robieson]

Greetings,

I have some weaving experience but mostly designing tartans, you can change the threadcount to make it smaller as long as you keep the ratio of the sett, so it is still identifiable, I have 3 scales for my personal tartan, first scale (I call it Sett 000) 0 scale which means I can't make it any smaller without compromising the sett ratio, then second scale (Sett 002) 2 scale which means the sett is twice the size of the first scale, and third scale (Sett 003) 3 scale is the size of my personal tartan as woven and made into a kilt.

Also as a weaver, when you warp up a sett e.g. MacLeod of Lewis, the weft is reduced in order to keep the sett looking square (unless it's a box weave, which my personal tartan is, where the warp and weft are the same), so you have 24 ends of Yellow on the warp, to keep it looking square the weft would be 20 ends of Yellow as I weave it, and 16 ends of Black for the warp, and 12 ends for weft, though the pivots of 2 ends of Red stay the same.

MacLeod - Warp Sett R/2 Y24 K16 Y2 K/16 - Weft R/2 Y20 K12 Y2 K/12

Note: This is half sett with full count at the pivots, if you weave MacLeod of Lewis the sett is layed out with full threadcount, including an extension depending on how many ends your warp has, e.g. 200/300 ends and the size of your loom and number of headles etc.

All the best,


Graham

[zazenkilter]

thank you for your kind words. But look who is calling the kettle black, with the know-it-all. It would be helpful if you read the question as it is and not as you see it....would love to see your web site and work as well if your all that, and you might read David as well, he got my meaning very well. cheers

[Paul Henry]

thank you for your kind words. But look who is calling the kettle black, with the know-it-all. It would be helpful if you read the question as it is and not as you see it....would love to see your web site and work as well if your all that, and you might read David as well, he got my meaning very well. cheers

The point which many of us have made , and on the other thread, is that you are wrong with your explanation, it as simple as that, sorry, but you are not giving the correct answer. Matt gave a very good and very simple answer with the Rob Roy tartan. DavidLPope actually disagreed with you as well , this is what he said
I think you're actually quite wrong about this. With a post count of 4 it might be wise to peruse past threads on the site and recognize the collected knowledge that is here. No one really likes a new know-it-all who hasn't established their bona fides yet. Oh yeah...welcome to XMarks.
If you want to see my website you are very welcome to look, a quick google will find it

[M. A. C. Newsome]

It is important to realize that tartan is much more of an art form than a science. It is a visual art. And to that end, what matters most in distinguishing one pattern from another is the visual similarity.

I have an old MacGregor kilt hanging in my closet. It's probably over 80 years old at present. It is quite obviously the MacGregor tartan. In fact, here I am wearing it, standing next to Sir Malcolm MacGregor, chief of the clan.


No one, not even the chief, would say the tartan I am wearing was anything other than Clan MacGregor.

Just for fun one time I decided to take a thread count off of this kilt. I compared it with every variation of the MacGregor tartan, official and otherwise, on record with the Scottish Tartans Society, who at the time had the largest available tartan database. (This was years before the National Register came about). The thread count on my kilt matched none of them. Not a one.

And I do not simply mean a difference of ratio. It was not as if the number of threads had simple been doubled, or trebled. The number of threads for each element in the tartan was off by a slightly different proportion to that of other design elements in each recorded version. Numerically, my tartan was quite different. But visually...? It is quite obviously a MacGregor.

So the definition of a tartan is much more subtle than being a strictly defined thread count, from which no variation may be made. It is the overall design and color, and is a very subjective matter. Does it look like the correct tartan? Or doesn't it?

[seanachie]

The point which many of us have made , and on the other thread, is that you are wrong with your explanation, it as simple as that, sorry, but you are not giving the correct answer. Matt gave a very good and very simple answer with the Rob Roy tartan. DavidLPope actually disagreed with you as well , this is what he said
I think you're actually quite wrong about this. With a post count of 4 it might be wise to peruse past threads on the site and recognize the collected knowledge that is here. No one really likes a new know-it-all who hasn't established their bona fides yet. Oh yeah...welcome to XMarks.
If you want to see my website you are very welcome to look, a quick google will find it

I can say Paul has the patience of Job with neophytes he has generously shared his knowledge on subjects such as assymetric tartans, kilt construction with visual guides, and very thorough comments and explanations. Before he gives up in frustration I just wish to comment on what a great contributor and resource he is.

[Tartan Tess]

Ahem.....
Lets get this back on track please. I don't need to start my day with anger.
After all I have learned about this, I still request swatches before I buy period.
I feel what Matt said about making a kilt an art form, and try to match body shapes with sett sizes if possible.

[warrior]

So taking what Matt said. The actual sett thread count is not an exact absolute, save for actually registration purposes maybe, as long as the recognizable pattern is adhered to.

MacLeod of Lewis aka Loud MacLeod
MacLeod Snuffbox (my avatar)
MacLeod #3

All of these are similar but different yet all are identifiable as MacLeod tartans.
Even a change in dominate color as in MacLeod Black and White still follows this concept of pattern.

I like the method behind the art form known as tartan. It is not static but has the freedom to add or subtract slightly subtle changes yet must still meet a standard of pattern. Freedom time be an individual yet still protected within the clan.

[Spartan Tartan]

Thanks Tess...

Thanks to EVERYONE that helped answer my questions at the start of this thread. I will admit, due to the cost of custom weaves--especially in recent incrases in the price of wool--I agree with Tess. Swatches are the way to go. Getting eyes on an actual piece of material is my future starting point. Not much sense playing with adjusting the sett until I know how it looks in "real life" (compared to the computer monitor).