Harris Tweed tartans, your thoughts

[Benning Boy]

What are your thoughts on Harris Tweed tartans as kilt making material? The Harris folks have told me their cloth is 16 ounce, just right for kilt making. They offer some clan tartans, but of more interest to me some fashion tartans in color schemes I like. As I recall, some here have issues with Harris Tweed for kilts, and others have said the tweed is more like what earlier kilts would have been made from. Anyway, just wondering.

Here is one that appeals to me, although others do to. http://harristweedandknitwear.co.uk/...tegory=4671885

[KiltFitz]

Have plans for this in the future. On thinking about custom-weave tartan I thought: If I'm going to spend a fortune on cloth, let's make it something totally unique, not woven in the same spec before. I went to harris and spoke to a couple of weavers (in the pub) and they said it would be fine but to even consider that, it would need to be quite a big order. Another weaver said he has orders for 2 years to fulfil.

Trouble would be consistently getting cloth in the required lengths. On speaking to some kiltmakers, the issue seems to be that the sources aren't reliable enough. The upshot is: They need more weavers in the hebrides.

I have seen a couple of kilts made from this though. Excellent in all respects except that the pleats don't bounce back to well and the cloth needs a bit of extra care to keep pleats sharp and flat etc.

[jhockin]

I bought some last year ( http://harristweedandknitwear.co.uk/...tegory=4671885), but haven't yet been able to sew it up into a kilt. Beautiful cloth, but, as some have noted, it is not woven as tight as worsted kilting cloth, so i expect, ( as some have mentioned) that it will be a good spring summer and autumn kilt, but not suitable for the winter winds.