Buying Blind

[Kilted Canadian]

So I've decided where I'm to order the tartan for my kilt from, and there is only one thing that is sticking out at the back of my mind (aside from the hefty price tag, of course).

Do tartan mills use a set array of colours for certain ranges (some for Weathered, some for Modern, etc?), or do they weave custom shades based on individual orders? I am aware that two mills make my tartan in Ancient, but I would be interested to see it in Weathered, from DC Dalgliesh. So would I be able to order a swatch at a small fee, or would I be reduced to starting at yarn samples if I want to get an idea of the colourations?

[Downunder Kilt]

From my knowledge, D C Dalgleish have a reproduction range (instead of weathered) that is woven in 11oz, not really suitable for kilts. They will of course weave anything for you in 15oz but I think it would be rare to find swatches in this wieght.

If the tartan you want is woven by Lochcarron and they show it in their strome list as being available in weathered colours, then I find that the sample they show on screen it quite life like (at least in MacLaren tartans)

As with all things that use dyes, there is always some difference in batches though tartan from the same mill, I believe stays pretty stable. Colours from different mills may vary due to different dye suppliers etc

[AKScott]

I bet yarn samples. I am only about half a stride ahead of you on the curve. I finally ordered swatches from three different places.

If you know you are especially interested in a particular mill, I would contact them directly and ask what swatches they do have available.

Once you have those swatches in you will have some idea of that mill's palette, and you can look back and forth between the real live swatch in your hand and the same tartan online on whichever computer monitors you have access to.

Also, order at least one swatch of whatever it is you think you want from any mill you can find, in your own clan. There is something about opening up a parcel of Royal Mail and having your ancestral history tumble out in a piece of cloth that some folks will never know, never understand. It's only 15-20 bucks, best 20 bucks I have spent in years.

[Chas]

So would I be able to order a swatch at a small fee, or would I be reduced to starting at yarn samples if I want to get an idea of the colourations?

Small fee - very much doubt it. It costs exactly the same to set up the loom to make your swatch as it does to make 100 yards. That is why most mills have a minimum order length. Because they don't have lots of looms standing idle waiting for an order, it would in fact cost them to set it up for a possible order, while a definite order has to wait.

If the weave you want is from a stock fabric, then no problem, they will sell you a swatch. Except that, because it is a stock fabric, the length you order might not come from that bolt of cloth, it might be the next. Or it might be the next run, with all the subtle variations in colour that can occur in a natural material.

I think that you will be looking at yarn samples.

Sorry to put a damper on this.

Regards

Chas

[M. A. C. Newsome]

You haven't told us what tartan you are interested in. If it is one that Dalgliesh stocks in their 11 oz range then you could request a swatch of that and it would give you a good idea of what the same would look like in 16 oz.

If it's not stocked, you could at least have a look at a different tartan utilizing the same range of colors from their stock reproduction range and it would again give you a good idea of what yours should look like.