what am I seeing here?

[berserkbishop]

I was a little confounded when my grandmother sent me my kilt and the wool from Marton Mills the turned selvage. My other kilts have the older tucked in selvage and that is what I was used to seeing. I felt kind of stupid when I showed this to Wally in KC, but he assured me it was normal and common. Its only stupid if you dont ask and remain ignorant!

BB

[turpin]

.... and in fact there was a short section along the side that was still hemmed.

Typically the first pleat (left side) has a bit of a tuck-up hem to prevent the corner of the pleat from peeking out from under the aprons and messing up the uniform line. I think this is also done with the right-hand corner of the under apron.

[Barb T]

Typically the first pleat (left side) has a bit of a tuck-up hem to prevent the corner of the pleat from peeking out from under the aprons and messing up the uniform line. I think this is also done with the right-hand corner of the under apron.

And also with about 9" of the lower edge of the underapron. If you see this, it means that your kiltmaker knows what he/she is doing!

[Pleater]

When I was in Sidmouth (England) last year - at the Folk festival where the percentage of kilts is far higher than seen everyday, I offended a man by pointing out that his kilt was made up inside out - that is with the twill line running the 'wrong' way.

His kilt was made - I think, by Hector Russel - and he declared that such a noted kilt maker would not get it wrong - but the twill line ran from left hip to right knee....

Perhaps it was one of the fabrics from the firm whch has the right side on the 'wrong' diagonal and the inside was not presentable.

[James MacMillan]

The knowledge base on this board continues to ever amaze and gratify me.

Major kudos to Matt and Steve.

Thanks guys for passing along your hard earned experience!

- - - -

[thescot]

The knowledge base on this board continues to ever amaze and gratify me.

Major kudos to Matt and Steve.. . .

Sorry, I should have mentioned Matt as well, but I responded before I got to his entry. Like Mac, this place is just amazing and guys like Matt and Steve make it worth hanging around.

[cessna152towser]

The mind boggles at the vast knowledge of Steve and Matt.
The internet is a wonderful learning tool.
Thanks guys.

[ThreadBbdr]

Fantastic pictures of the mill! I was going to tackle this one from the hand-weaver's perspective, but you all beat me to it and did it better!

[ForresterModern]

My Marton Mills Jura 16 oz Black Isle has the turned and thickened selvedge like in the pictures but is slightly less obvious, probably because it is practically all black anyway. My House of Edgar Nevis 16oz /ancient MacDonald does not have it and neither does my Strathmore 13oz Forrester Modern.

It is interesting how different weavers and even different ranges within weavers can be differerent with whidch type of selvedge they use. The turned in selvedge, while it may be becoming the standard due to technology changes, in my mind is clearly less desirable than the older standard kilting selvedge. I think I will likely be sticking with tartans which do not have a turned in selvedge, if I have a choice, in the future. Just a cleaner look, depending on the quality of the manufacture.

[Ryan Ross]

My question is: Which type of selvage is stronger? Does anyone have any thoughts?

Personally, I'd probably prefer whichever one was more durable, as I don't find the look of the turned selvage to be that objectionable.