Strathmore Woolen Company

[mookien]

To my knowledge, which isn't very extensive, the only mill that provides "hard tartan" ie not finished is Dalgliesh, though only on specific request. Matt sewed a 6 yd. Douglas Reproduction kilt in hard tartan for me. It is one of my favorites - makes me feel like one of Angus Og's caterans, ... in a Douglas kilt!

I liked the idea of having a kilt made the way they made them in the "good old days", and just for variety. The reality is a bit less dramatic. The main difference that I can tell is that if you rub your hand across the hard tartan it feels a bit coarser than finished tartan, but not rough by any means.

Also, each mill's cloth seems to produce a noticeable difference in the feel of the cloth (the "hand", I suppose) from the other mills. I can tell the difference when side by side, but I couldn't tell you which was which in a blind test. They all feel pretty smooth and supple to me.

The only cloth I might be able to distinguish from feel alone is HoE's Regimental tartan. It has a distinct fuzzy texture. It may be something like Matt's "teasle raised" tartans, but never having felt that cloth, I can't say for sure.

[Barb T]

I don't order very often from Strathmore because I typically make kilts in heavy weight, which is something they don't stock, as others have pointed out. I have made a couple kilts out of their lightweight T7 11 oz fabric, and I have to say that I felt that it made a pretty "flippy" kilt. Dalgliesh's lightweight tartan (11-12 oz) is, to my taste, a better option for lightweight tartan. Although it's listed as essentially the same weight, I find it feels heavier and swings better in a kilt than the lightweight tartan from other mills. Just personal preference.

I'll also weigh in on medium weight for a 4-yard box pleat kilt. Personally, I think box pleat kilts are better made in heavy weight. They have only about 1/3 of the tartan in the back of the kilt that a trad 8-yard kilt has, and the heavier tartan gives some weight for swing without being too hot or heavy. Medium weight for a 4-yard box pleat kilt can be a bit skirt-like. Again, my preference, not the law!

[ForresterModern]

Both my Forrester tartan kilts are Strathmore material, the Modern in their standard W60 12-13oz material while the Hunting is in their special order W100 15-16oz material. Their fabric is as good as any of the other top mills IMHO, with the bonus that they tend to have the best true kilting selvedge (again IMHO) only rivaled by some Dalgleish, some HoE, and some Lochcarron, but Strathmores is consistently good. Their colors are rich and vibrant without being harsh or comically bright or fluorescent. Although I have only bought their cloth through other middlemen, they have always had my tartan in stock when ordered and shipped promptly, even upgrading me from my ordered 13 oz Forrester Hunting tartan to their heavyweight 16 oz version when they discovered their stocks of the 13 oz were insufficient and they had the usually only custom woven to order heavyweight in stock---surprise bonus at no extra cost, and they even sent a letter of apology becase it was not precisely what I ordered. My only truck with them is, as others have said, that their standard stock tartans are almost all only in 13 oz with the 16 oz usually requiring a special order or extremely good luck/divine providence as I encountered.