This is not as straight forward question as it might seem.
Just to be clear about the terms:
A woven selvedge (sometimes selvage in the US) is an edge to the cloth created by a continuous weft thread looping round at the edge of the cloth.
A tuck selvedge is one created on a loom which cuts the thread and "tucks" the cut thread back into the cloth about 1/2 an inch into the edge of the cloth.
This is nothing to do with hems - just in case people get confused, but to do with the clean cloth edge (self edge).
A woven selvedge was all that was possible on older sorts of looms where continuous weft threads loop back and forth between the warp. You get an edge which is the same thickness of the rest of the cloth but there can be a slight (or not so slight) waviness to the edge of the cloth.
A tuck selvedge, because of the cut thread being tucked in, forms a slightly thicker edge. On thinner fabric this can be an issue but with the sort of weights of kilt cloth you end up with a good firm edge. You can feel the cloth is very slightly thicker but you do get a very clean edge which is useful for a kilt.
The modern looms, which create a tuck selvedge, can also be run much faster and so the cloth can be produced more economically. I am not convinced that one is necessarily better than the other and the economics of a modern loom can make a good worsted kilt cloth at lower cost.
But you asked about the practices of different mills.
Some mills have a mixture of looms and depending on what cloth is produced they may use a loom producing a woven or a tuck selvedge - and you may have no say in the matter. As far as I am aware Marton Mills use a tuck selvedge, Lochcarron likewise. House of Edgar is a bit of a mix. The cloth I have seen from Dalgleish has a woven selvedge, but there were a number of comments on here about the poor selvedge when the first run of the Cthulu tartan was produced. I have recently seen some cloth from Andrew Elliot Ltd which had a superb woven selvedge.
No doubt different kiltmakers on here will have an opinion about the merits one way or the other. But as long as there is a good clean edge on the kilt I leave that sort of decision to my kiltmaker and his discussions with the various mills.
Does that help?
Best wishes - Harvey.
The Following User Says 'Aye' to HarveyH For This Useful Post:
Sorry to give you only a link rather than a simple explanation. but I believe Mr. Newsome has the best explanation that I have seen in this link. http://www.newhousehighland.com/selvage.html
"REMEMBER!"
The Following 2 Users say 'Aye' to Kilted Cole For This Useful Post:
I don't like the term 'tucked selvedge' which is really a misnomer. If the term selvedge was reserved solely for a woven one then we might have seen traditional mills doing better than they have. More information on types of selvedge is here.
The Following User Says 'Aye' to figheadair For This Useful Post:
Thank you for the information so far. I ask because I would prefer to have a woven selvedge on my new kilt (so long as it is well made) but am rather in the dark about which cloths come with a woven selvedge and which come with a tucked. It's complicated by the fact that I also want a heavyweight kilt in a particular tartan, so I realise not all mills will make what I want. I know of two mills already who make the tartan I want, namely Lochcarron and D.C. Dalgleish, but I want to know if I have missed some of the smaller producers.
Of the two kilts I currently own, one is a 16oz tucked (Lochcarron) and the other is a 13oz woven, of unknown origin. I prefer the woven selvedge, which by the way is perfectly straight with no waviness.
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