Cost of Tartan Fabric Only

[bricelythgoe]

I was wondering if a few of you professional kilt makers could break down the cost of a kilt for me. I am trying to figure out what the cost of the frabric is by itself. I want to know how much I should expect to pay for good wool or pv fabric. Thanks for the help.

Brice

[joecool]

First off, I am no kilt maker (but I did buy some fabric so I can try my hand at it when I get some free time). The only material I have bought was some regimental weight Black watch tartan and a regimental weight Leslie tartan (both wool). They were both around 4 meters of double width fabric and I am pretty sure that including shipping they were both somewhere around $100 bucks. That was cheap, and I was lucky. Most of the time fabric, especially wool tartan, can be pretty pricey. I will let the other more knowledgeable members of the forum speak to that. But, moral of the story is, good, cheap tartan fabric is out there, you just have to be patient and look around a bit!
Good Luck!

[jhockin]

(also not a professional kiltmaker) but: watch here , for remnants:
http://www.wooltartan.com/
( which is the Fraser & Kirkbright website), I recently bought 8 metrs of double wide, 16 oz. MacNaughton tartan , for 200 $Canadian.

[Livingston]

Brice, I too am not a professional kilt maker but... The price you pay will depend on several things, the weight (13 oz, 16 oz, 22 oz), the mill and whether or not it is a stock tartan.

[The Wizard of BC]

Well, if no one else will respond to this........

Now remember, I make all types of Kilts. Even though Tartan Kilts are a large part of my business my main fabrics are solids and camos.

Tartan fabrics are some of the hardest things to give a quote on.
Not only are there different weights and weavers but each has their stock fabric lists and each charge different rates for what most people would think of as the same fabric.

And we here in N. America are at the mercy of the exchange rates.

So I'm only going to give you my retail price for my standard fabrics.

I have no idea what other use for their retail mark-up on fabric but I have a simple calculation of; what the weaver charges me per yard, + the shipping, duty and tax to import the fabric, + my mark-up of 30%.
And I can assure you that some charge a 100% mark-up.


Marton Mills 12oz Polyester/Rayon blend known as P/V retail for approx. $24.00cdn per yard double-width.

13oz Wools from Marton Mills and Lochcarron retail for approx. $68.60cdn per yard double-width.

16oz Wools from Marton Mills and Lochcarron retail for approx. $86.60cdn per yard double-width.

A custom weave in 16oz Wool runs $66.40cdn per yard Single Width.

I am bit unusual in that I only charge a flat rate for my labor to make one of my Tartan Model Kilts and I publish my labor rate. To make a Kilt I then add the cost of whatever fabric the customer asks for. Optional costs are in the number of pockets the customer asks for.

This means that on average;

A 12 oz P/V Kilt will cost approx. $400.00
A 13oz Wool Kilt will cost approx. $580.00
A 16oz Wool Kilt will cost approx. $650.00

Over 45" hips will cost a bit extra for extra fabric.
Rare or non stock fabrics will cost more.

OK, now you can add up the rest.

[Barb T]

Not sure whether your question is one about trying to figure out how a custom-made kilt breaks down in terms of price or whether you are figuring on making a kilt for yourself and want to buy tartan. If the latter, then good kilting tartan for an 8 yard kilt can be had for anywhere from maybe $100 if you luck into some remnants on eBay to $400 or more, if you want to have a custom weave done.

If you're trying to figure out what % of the cost of a custom-made kilt is tartan and what is labor, you're not going to get a consistent answer among kiltmakers. Some mark tartan up, some don't, and some mark it up more than others. Some use less expensive tartan than others. Some charge flat labor rates (Steve and I are in that camp), and others charge a flat fee to make a kilt. No matter how you slice it, your kiltmaker isn't making a lot of money.....

[ChattanCat]

I don't mark up the material and I charge a flat rate. I figure I am making minimum wage. Why do I do it? It's still fun and I consider it a hobby.

[fluter]

Brice,

No doubt if you communicate directly to our kiltmakers, they will give you their current price for building a kilt.

Then I would recommend that you click on the Scotweb ad at at the top of the page, and get really friendly with the Tartan Finder application. It won't require much effort, it's addictive! You can select a tartan, slice and dice what parameters you want (fabric, weight, width) and get all kinds of prices. As Steve points out, the exchange rate is the wild card in the equation.

USAK also has a shiny new tartan display application, you can have hours of fun there, too. You can see what a 5-yard or a Premier kilt would cost for a given tartan.

Check Celtic Croft and the Scottish Tartans Museum shop for their available tartans and current prices. They have lists on line that are easy to find, but most kiltmakers & retailers would probably give you a sample quotation. With STM, USAK you know exactly which mill you're discussing.

On to the deals:

Last year I was looking for fabric, and found on Ebay a kilt length of very good quality fabric (13 oz.) for about $150, delivered. Since it's under the amount an individual can import on any given day, there was no duty payable. Based on what I could get from Scotweb, or from a stateside retailer, I figured that was half price or better.

In a separate deal, I got 5 meters of House of Edgar 13-ounce for about the same price. It's the muted Wallace in my current avatar, and 4 yards of it is now my number-one tank. The remainder of the fabric is deciding whether it wants to be a bias-cut waistcoat. That was perhaps a bit better than half price.

My comfort level with those 2 Ebay suppliers was good, based on feedback from the Xmarks kiltmaking community.

When the exchange rate was pretty good (late 2008) I got 2 yards of Marton Mills 16-ounce Jura from Scotweb, to make a box-pleat. That was nicely affordable, less than $100 delivered IIRC. Even now with the pound near $167, it's running $45+ per yard. Lochcarron Strome is about $74+. So, about $180-300 plus overhead gets a kilt length. You'll probably find that our retailers are competitive with that, and you won't have to hassle with the import part of the process.

Enjoy!

[Merlin]

I am looking to purchase about a yard and half in Clan Gunn so my wife can make her a skirt for my Highland Games.

Any ideas?

[piperdbh]

I am looking to purchase about a yard and half in Clan Gunn so my wife can make her a skirt for my Highland Games.

Any ideas?

You might want to repost this in the "Want Ads" section. It'll probably get more views there.