Two Questions (tartan and vendor)

[chasem]

I'm looking at getting ahold of some tartan to make a kilt. I'm debating between Maclachlan and Macewen tartans. I was just wondering if anyone had a rough idea of the repeats of these two setts? In Barb's book, it mentions that Maclachlan has a 12" repeat, but I don't know about the weight of the material (therefore thread width).

Or if anyone could tell me relative to one another (maclachlan's repeat is larger than macewen's, or vice-versa), I'd really appreacite it

Shoot, if you have a website even that lists other tartans with a rough idea, that'd be great too



Question #2: Has anyone done any dealings with House of Tartan? They have both the Maclachlan and Macewen tartans for just under $70/meter, but I didn't want to order from there unless I was sure they were reliable.

Thanks

[M. A. C. Newsome]

The exact sett size of either of those two tartans is going to depend upon 1) the mill that is weaving it, and 2) the weight of the cloth.

As you may already know, the weight of the cloth has a bearing on sett size. Lochcarron's 10 oz cloth has a smaller sett than their 13 oz cloth, which has a smaller sett than their 16 oz cloth, in the same tartan.

But it also may vary from mill to mill. Lochcarron's 13 oz MacLachlan may have a different size sett than The House of Edgar's 13 oz MacLachlan.

So, if you need to know the sett size before ordering you can either request a sample swatch be sent to you, or if you don't want to wait for that, call the people you are ordering from and see if they know or can find out for you.

Aye,
Matt

[Barb T.]

Ditto what Matt has said. Depends on the weight of the fabric and the mill that's weaving it. I've had very good success simply asking what the repeat is in inches.

If you get a swatch to measure, be sure that you know what the tartan looks like, because a typical swatch for a really big repeat A-B-A-C -type tartan will actually be bigger than the swatch, and it's easy to make a mistake in measuring if you don't know what the tartan looks like (voice of experience - I made that mistake with the weathered Stewart, old sett - ordered it on the basis of a repeat I saw in a 9" swatch, and the _true_ repeat was over 15"!! The stuff is _still_ sitting on my shelf....). Anyone want a good deal on 8 yards of Stewart Old Sett, 16 oz???

Cheers,

Barb

[chasem]

How good of a deal?

I was originally just looking for a rough idea, but I emailed Lochcarron, and they said that their Maclachlan in 13 oz had a 19cm sett, where their MacEwen had a 29cm sett.