Designing a Tartan

[be da veva]

Wow, I'm really out of it..... Thank you for the update.

[Lorna]

I have not designed a tartan so I can't help you there but I have had a length of tartan woven and shipped to Canada. It was then sent to Burnett and Struth in Barrie, Ontario to be made into a dancer's kilt. I was pleased with the finished kilt. Many of the pipe bands in the area use Burnett and Struth as their supplier of kilts.

[unixken]

Part of the problem you will find with any "non stock" tartan, especially any that you design yourself, will be finding mills willing to produce short runs of just a few yards. D.C. Dalgliesh specializes in short runs, and through Scotweb, are likely to give you very competitive pricing. Most other mills would normally require much higher minimum yardage, to produce your custom tartan. (Though Scotweb has arranged for a few other U.K.-based mills to do some of their short-run commissions.)

In other words, Dalgliesh may charge you a higher cost per yard, due to the setup charges being amortized over just a few yards.... versus other mills who might be able to provide a cheaper price per yard, but who would require you to buy so many yards that your net total cost is higher. In other words, which is more affordable to you... 8 yards at $100 per yard? Or 30 yards at $85 per yard?

I'm currently waiting on an 8yd hand-sewn kilt from D.C. Dalgliesh, made from a tartan that I designed with the Scotweb online tartan design tool, in 15oz wool. I found the price to be reasonable for what I'm getting. Although not "cheap", I have other kilts from them and can vouche for the superb quality... worth every dollar.