Intro - never ending search for VERY lightweight tartan & kilts

**jfone** · 9th March 17, 09:13 AM

Name: Jen

My biological clans (that I know of) are: McLachlan (Claflin), Russell, McLean & McConnell Irish) & I married into: MacDonald & McAllistair & his father has Welsh roots, but I don't know how far back from his English family or the surnames.

I have been around kilts & Scottish wear via Highland games all my life & have known about the Claflin/Russell side of my Scots lineage for as far back as I can remember. Only in the last 5-10 yrs or so found out about the McLean & McConnell sides as I've been working on genealogy.

About me & kilted skirts, shirts etc... I have been looking for tartan fabrics, ESPECIALLY cotton or ultra-lightweight materials because I live in Florida & it gets not just hot, but way too humid down here. I had found a Nova Scotia tartan in cotton, ordered enough for a shirt to be made & now, not only have I misplaced the fabric, but also can't find the item/seller on ebay anymore. I am looking for a good pattern for full or calf length kilted skirt to have done in one of my clan's tartans & also probably would like 1 or 2 long-sleeved mens button down shirts (the shirts could be shared w/ my husband). I found a cool kilted skirt by Regina Davan on a steampunk site several years ago. It now seems that altkilt.com is making them for resale http://www.altkilt.com/travelskirt . I think it would look awesome w/ tartan fabric in several more panels, minus any gears, keys etc... I am so not a seamstress, and would have to find someone who would be willing to work off of pics only, but I'd love to have something at least loosely based on this one. A few years ago, I bought some PV tartan on ebay & had a Baja hoodie made out of the Pride of Scotland tartan (only because they didn't have any of my clans available). It gets a little warm at the height of summer, but I do wear it all year round.

I also have a small, but growing collection of sgian dubhs. Some I've put together myself (buy the blade blank & pick my handle material). I have traditional styles, some not quite traditional ones & even some funky plastic/ABS ones. Mostly, the plastic ones would come into play when a real blade is not allowed. I'll try to post pics over in the proper section soon.

On to my husband... I have tried to get my husband to wear a kilt, quite unsuccessfully. I have bought him a khaki sport kilt/utilikilt type kilt & managed to get a "manly" photo of him splitting wood. I keep telling him to embrace his heritage, but hasn't happened yet over the past 21 yrs of marriage. He is a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT & a member of JFRD Pipes & Drums Corps did approach him about joining them (even offered to teach him what he'd need to know). I AM ALL FOR IT, but he knows my ulterior motive is getting him in a kilt though I love to listen to Pipe & Drum Corps.

That about covers my interest in kilts. If anyone knows a regular source of ultra-lightweight tartan fabrics, particularly inexpensive ones, I would love to know about it. I do have a source for poly-viscose tartans out of Pakistan via ebay, but very limited # of tartans. The price per yard is pretty good, but the S&H is a killer. I would love to find a US source, even if they aren't the actual weaver. I read w/ interest & no big surprises, the post on this forum w/ pics about where/how Scottish clothing industry is comprised of pieces coming from all over the world & often some pieces for virtually every label being made in one factory. Kind of like how we all know that Peter Pan makes Walmart branded peanut butter.... as evidenced by that giant recall a few years ago where ALL of it was pulled from their shelves for almost 2 weeks.

I can't promise I'll be a huge contributor, but I will post when I find interesting things about kilts & the assorted accoutrements that go w/ them.

Thanks for having me in the forums,
~Jen Fone
Florida, USA

**Taskr** · 9th March 17, 11:04 AM

Welcome, Jen

One Canadian mail order source is Fabricville http://fabricville.com/en/catalogsea...sult/?q=tartan, which might or not be of advantage dollar exchange wise. I wander into the local (Canada) Fabricland now and then - they always have a selection of cotton and other - including very lightweight wool - tartans, or plaids as they are want to say. I noticed Fabricland online sales are Fabricville hosted.

**davidlpope** · 9th March 17, 02:07 PM

Ingles Buchan provides lightweight wool tartan fabric. They have both plain weave and twill. I'm not sure that I would use their lightest weight material for a skirt.
http://inglesbuchan.com/index.php?ro...tegory&path=79

Lochcarron and Dalgliesh offer 10/11 oz. fabric. Even in Florida that should be lightweight enough for a woman's skirt, etc., and there is a wide range of tartans.
http://www.lochcarron.co.uk/reiver-tartan/
https://www.dcdalgliesh.co.uk/fabric...raditional/all

The Scottish Weaver offers several lighter weight non-wool fabrics.
http://www.thescottishweaver.com/non...laids.html?p=2

**KiltedCodeWarrior** · 9th March 17, 02:29 PM

Welcome from the Space Coast!

PV is the best alternative. If you haven't checked them out yet, USAKilts is awesome. They are a partner of the forum. Rocky and Kelly and their gang are great to work with and deliver a splendid product. They make kilts, ladies kilted skirts, etc., and from a pretty wide range of tartans. I believe that they may also offer cloth for sale, but don't quote me on that. Check them out.

**jfone** · 9th March 17, 02:35 PM

Thanks, I hadn't found this one yet. They do have pretty reasonable prices & right now the CA to USD exchange isn't too bad. It seems their lightest weight is the PV. Oddly, they have no McLachlan tartans & that's a pretty common one. I've bookmarked this one & will see if they sell the PV by the yard (looks like possibly only wool BTY).
~Jen

Originally Posted by Taskr

Welcome, Jen

One Canadian mail order source is Fabricville http://fabricville.com/en/catalogsea...sult/?q=tartan, which might or not be of advantage dollar exchange wise.

**jfone** · 9th March 17, 03:15 PM

I appreciate it. Unless I can find 8oz wool (which I've never seen in tartan), I just can't do it. I've tried it w/ other items over the years & it's just not good around here. I mean, I've worn pants like 5 days this year. I'm talking light cotton twill & the rest of the time has been shorts.

I was familiar w/ Dalgliesh & The Scottish Weaver (might have to check out their Poly-Cotton at 5 oz, quite appealing). I hadn't heard of Ingles Buchan or Lochcarron, but got them all bookmarked now.

I might consider Ingles Buchan or Dalgleish w/ silk for shirts, but not sure about it for a kilted skirt.

Lochcarron only has wool & I just can't do that.

~Jen

PS - Man, I really wish I could find where I got the cotton fabric so many years ago (pretty sure it was out of Canada).

Originally Posted by davidlpope

http://inglesbuchan.com/index.php?ro...tegory&path=79

http://www.lochcarron.co.uk/reiver-tartan/
https://www.dcdalgliesh.co.uk/fabric...raditional/all

http://www.thescottishweaver.com/non...laids.html?p=2

**davidlpope** · 9th March 17, 04:05 PM

Ingles Buchan lightweight plain weave fabric is 8oz. This is the material that they make ties out of.

**davidlpope** · 9th March 17, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by jfone

I appreciate it. Unless I can find 8oz wool (which I've never seen in tartan), I just can't do it. I've tried it w/ other items over the years & it's just not good around here. I mean, I've worn pants like 5 days this year. I'm talking light cotton twill & the rest of the time has been shorts.

I was familiar w/ Dalgliesh & The Scottish Weaver (might have to check out their Poly-Cotton at 5 oz, quite appealing). I hadn't heard of Ingles Buchan or Lochcarron, but got them all bookmarked now.

I might consider Ingles Buchan or Dalgleish w/ silk for shirts, but not sure about it for a kilted skirt.

Lochcarron only has wool & I just can't do that.

~Jen

PS - Man, I really wish I could find where I got the cotton fabric so many years ago (pretty sure it was out of Canada).

You're probably thinking of Fraser-Kirkbright in Canada. They're no longer in business.

**ratspike** · 9th March 17, 04:19 PM

You might want to first find someone to make your kilt/kilted skirt before getting too involved with fabric. It's possible that they wouldn't be willing to work with something like a super light cotton. I've made a few with cotton twill that was something like 5oz or so, and I thought they were just awful.