Broadcloth in great kilts?

[tripod]

I read in the accounts from the 16th century onwards about the great kilt being used as a very effective weather protection. I wonder if this is due to the exceptional hardiness of those at the time or if the fabric used was actually broadcloth.

Not being an expert I would expect homespun and home weaving to produce a cloth that was looser in the weave and therefore susceptible to catching, as well as being less windproof. In the climate of the highlands a windproof garment would have been an essential. It would seem to my mind that the easiest way to provide a suitable cloth that was both more windproof and harder wearing would be to shrink it, a broadcloth. It might also help in the discussions of the cloth weight.

I'm not intending to make a broadcloth kilt (my sewing skills are just about suitable for buttons) but just for general interest.

[Tenmiles]

Not being a textile historian, just a layman, I think this is an interesting idea, and I could see the logic in it.
I wonder if there might be any historical documentation, such as a description of the weaving process, which mentions weaving something wider/larger (than intended for the end product), because some beating and shrinkage was expected.

[figheadair]

I was unfamiliar with the term Broadcloth and so had to look it up. - Wiki. The entry goes on to name cealtar as a type/name for Broadcloth in Irish Gaelic and Dwelly says that in Scots' Gaelic the term referred to Thick broad-cloth, generally of a grey colour or, a web of any kind.

Nowhere seems to say just how wide broadcloth was, either on the loom or when finished. Dwelly makes no claim for the historical use of the term in connection with plain grey cloth, his subsidiary definition could also include tartan, but in neither case is it clear that it was plain weave as the English cloth was.

All cloth naturally pulls in (shrinks) to some degree in the weaving process. Add to that the fact that most tartan is and was a 2/2 twill weave which is structurally denser and stronger than plain weave, which is why it (worsted cloth) did not need to be fulled as a woollen cloth did.

Durability is not solely about cloth weight. Yarn, and therefore cloth, type is also an important consideration.

[Bruce Scott]

Nowhere seems to say just how wide broadcloth was, either on the loom or when finished.

From the Wiki Intro, para 2: "The raw material was short staple wool, carded and spun into yarn and then woven on a broad loom to produce cloth 1.75 yards wide."

[Liam]

Interesting discussion. Although I had heard the term, broadcloth, I had no idea what it really was or how it was made, until I too "googled" it. I would expect that some natural felting of a highlander's great kilt would occur when exposed to the elements, and then dried either in the sun or around a stove or fire.

[Tenmiles]

Interesting discussion. Although I had heard the term, broadcloth, I had no idea what it really was or how it was made, until I too "googled" it. I would expect that some natural felting of a highlander's great kilt would occur when exposed to the elements, and then dried either in the sun or around a stove or fire.

Well, so another question becomes whether it was made specifically with that process in mind, and perhaps intentionally performed before being used as a garment/plaid, or whether it was something which one might naturally expect to happen over time and wear ('getting better with age')?