Lightest tartan material?

**Tobus** · 2nd May 11, 10:56 AM

I'd like to find some lightweight tartan material that my wife can make a dress out of. She claims wool is way too hot, and I can't even convince her that PV is light enough.

I know there are lots of materials out there that are available in generic tartans or even "plaid" patterns. But we're looking for the Colquhoun (Ancient) tartan specifically.

Is there a source for material that's lighter than the 10-11 oz. PV material, that would offer a fairly uncommon tartan like Colquhoun?

**piperdbh** · 2nd May 11, 10:58 AM

Get Dalgliesh to weave it for you in silk. It might be possible that somebody in clan Colquhon would want to go in with you and order some yardage, which might bring down the cost.

**RockyR** · 2nd May 11, 11:51 AM

We can get Colquhoun Anc. in 8 oz or 11 oz wool which is very nice for making dresses. Price is roughly $55 for 8 oz wool and $60 for 11 oz wool (priced per yard).

**Tobus** · 2nd May 11, 12:46 PM

Is it possible to get a swatch of the 8 oz. wool material, Rocky? My wife is going to need to see and feel the weight of it herself before she's convinced that anything in wool is going to be light enough. I don't suppose it really matters what tartan a swatch is, I just need to be able to let her compare the weight of it to other dress materials.

**Tobus** · 3rd May 11, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by piperdbh

Get Dalgliesh to weave it for you in silk. It might be possible that somebody in clan Colquhon would want to go in with you and order some yardage, which might bring down the cost.

Your reply totally didn't make it through my thick skull until today as I was looking at DC Dalgliesh's website. Silk! Perfect!

Looks like they only weave it in 30" widths, though. I'll have to see if she can work around that.

**MacMillan of Rathdown** · 3rd May 11, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by piperdbh

Get Dalgliesh to weave it for you in silk.

They did the silk for the lining of my dinner jacket. First class job all around.

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 4th May 11, 04:06 AM

Dalgliesh's silk is really nice! We sell it trough the STM shop and just recently sent out a length of Clark in silk to a customer who I believe was making a dress from it.

The cost per yard is $145 and there is a 5 yard minimum order (30" wide). But I agree that would be idea.

The 8oz plain weave (called "spring weight" or "tie weight") is rather light for garments. I think it would be ok in a vest or something like that, but I'd hesitate to use it for a skirt or dress. I could be proven wrong, though!

If you do go with wool, I'd recommend the 10 oz twill weave, even though it is a little heavier.

**Tobus** · 4th May 11, 04:56 AM

Actually, the dress she's planning on making would be a reproduction of another dress she already has... but in a tartan pattern. It's a multi-layered dress with under-skirting in a black sheer fabric, and the outer fabric of the existing one is very, very thin and light. So in trying to reproduce it, the lighter the material we can find, the better.

The cost is something I'm kind of choking on, though. That's a minimum of $725 that must be spent on material. It'll be one expensive dress!

You don't happen to have any of their silk material laying around that I could get a swatch of, do you Matt?

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 4th May 11, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by Tobus

Actually, the dress she's planning on making would be a reproduction of another dress she already has... but in a tartan pattern. It's a multi-layered dress with under-skirting in a black sheer fabric, and the outer fabric of the existing one is very, very thin and light. So in trying to reproduce it, the lighter the material we can find, the better.

The cost is something I'm kind of choking on, though. That's a minimum of $725 that must be spent on material. It'll be one expensive dress!

You don't happen to have any of their silk material laying around that I could get a swatch of, do you Matt?

I don't really, no. Sorry! But we ship out every bit of silk we get from them.

I still think the silk may be ideal for your purposes, but understand that is a lot of cash. Reading what you describe, I think the spring weight (8oz) wool will most likely work just fine. And at $55/yd is a lot less expensive!

**fluter** · 11th May 11, 08:40 PM

I would go ahead and get swatches in your tartan for 8 oz, 10oz, and PV. You'll want to see the colors so that there are no surprises in that department. Your wife may decide that the Marton PV would be good for a future project, if not this one.