Quality Plaid

[creagdhubh]

Strome tartan really is, IMHO, the best around for kilting. Just about any tartan woven by a Scottish mill however will have a properly selvedged edge. Even the lightweight (11oz. - 12oz.) tartan that is too light for a man's kilt usually is selvedged. Locharron is a great weaver, D.C. Dalgleish is another. There are probably a half dozen or so top names in the tartan industry.

I agree, the 16 ounce strome heavyweights by Lochcarron are excellent for kilting-I swear by strome! I have 4 kilts that are all made from the strome tartan. The colors are excellent as well.

[MartinGrenoble]

Interesting to read these comments.
It looks as if all the major weavers meet with your approval, although in each cae there seem to be weaknesses (selvedge style, pleatability, colours).

Why should selvedges be different coming from the same mill? Do the big names in fact retail cloth from different weavers?

Where does Kinloch Anderson cloth come from (not mentioned)?

Opinions about colours a just a matter of personal taste.

I am not a kilt maker and can offer opinions only from the kilts I have bought.

One kilt from Strathmore; so lacking body that I will not buy another; fluffy but warm in winter.
More than one from Lochcarron, no complaints at all with the medium weight.
One from House of Edgar; it has held its pleats perfectly through many hours of travel in cramped plane seats, plus all the hours of sitting through the day waiting. It also has an incredibly neat selvedge, impossible to see where any difference in the weave near the edge and the rest of the cloth.
One Kinloch Anderson that has stood up well to frequent use and occasional soaking in heavy rain. Not keen on the hem; is it because the cloth has no proper sevedge? I can't tell.

Other kilts , weaver unknown, obtained through John Morrison (Heritage of Scotland), Burnett & Struth, and e-bay. Worn less frequently, so I cannot comment on their durability, but the cloths all look and feel smoothe, good and tough. I'd be interested to know where they came from.

Martin

[ForresterModern]

Tartan selvedges depend on the type of loom the tartan is woven on----traditional looms are a little more time consuming on a linear per meter basis but generally yield a nice and neat well hidden traditional kilting selvedge, while the faster more modern rapier looms yield a more variable and often far more visible tuck in selvedge. Some weavers use a mixture of the two types of looms, with the traditionals also sometimes done in single width or double width while the rapier looms usually are double width fabric. HoE has both, with their more expensive stuff typically coming off thier traditional looms, often single width, while their new Nevis 16oz line comes off their new rapier looms at a less expensive cost but with a more variable and often less attractive tuck in selvedge. Other weavers I am sure also have a mixture of looms, some single or double width traditional and others double width rapier, although as the older less efficient traditional looms are getting on in their lifespan I am guessing we will begin to see more rapier loomed material from most if not all weavers. I have personally NOT seen any tuck in selvedge (rapier loom) tartan so far in my limited experience with either Strathmore or Dalgleish, but have seen it occasionally from Lochcarron, HoE, Batley, and Marton Mills, with the latter two almost exclusively so. The tuck in selvedge variabilities presumably relate to how well maintained and calibrated the looms are kept, although that is pure speculation on my part.

[creagdhubh]

Interesting to read these comments.
It looks as if all the major weavers meet with your approval, although in each cae there seem to be weaknesses (selvedge style, pleatability, colours).

Why should selvedges be different coming from the same mill? Do the big names in fact retail cloth from different weavers?

Where does Kinloch Anderson cloth come from (not mentioned)?

Opinions about colours a just a matter of personal taste.

I am not a kilt maker and can offer opinions only from the kilts I have bought.

One kilt from Strathmore; so lacking body that I will not buy another; fluffy but warm in winter.
More than one from Lochcarron, no complaints at all with the medium weight.
One from House of Edgar; it has held its pleats perfectly through many hours of travel in cramped plane seats, plus all the hours of sitting through the day waiting. It also has an incredibly neat selvedge, impossible to see where any difference in the weave near the edge and the rest of the cloth.
One Kinloch Anderson that has stood up well to frequent use and occasional soaking in heavy rain. Not keen on the hem; is it because the cloth has no proper sevedge? I can't tell.

Other kilts , weaver unknown, obtained through John Morrison (Heritage of Scotland), Burnett & Struth, and e-bay. Worn less frequently, so I cannot comment on their durability, but the cloths all look and feel smoothe, good and tough. I'd be interested to know where they came from.

Martin

Kinloch-Anderson uses many different mills for their kilts, many of them have already been stated in this thread. I do not think that they weave their own tartans, but I may be wrong. I have ordered products from KA for 4 years now and have been very happy with their high quality and excellent customer service.

[xman]

A thousand thank-yous. You all are sooooo helpful. This information is great.