Tweed kilts? What do you think?

[jhockin]

I was just checking my favorite Harris Twed website, and see they have a number of "clearance" tweeds, marked down 29%, to 25GBP, for double width:

http://harristweedandknitwear.co.uk/...=0&sort=normal

[DyerStraits]

I love tweed, and I think tweed kilts are fabulous. I have one that I made with some brown-ish/ochre-ish stuff that I picked up on ebay for practically nothing. It was lovely to work with and holds a pleat well. It has a windowpane pattern so it was fussier to sew than a solid color, but didn't make me want to pull my hair out like tartan does.

I have always loved tweed also (even before I even knew what it was), and am also dying to have a kilt in a checked, herringbone or donegal weave for Autumn/Winter wear, so I am right there with you, Gwynng. We have a retailer here in the Chicago area, Vogue Fabrics, that always stocks an excellent selection of tweed and other traditional woolen suit fabrics (even cashmere blends) and also has kilt-making patterns, so I intend to enlist the sewing skills of my girlfriend's mom--the craftiest (in the good sense) woman I've ever met, who loves to have a project to keep her busy--to make it a reality (one of the reasons I've become so good at buying jewelry). Best of luck to you, and be sure to post photos!

[Farmer Jones]

I am a huge fan of tweed and spend much of my life clad in it. I do quite like some, not all(the colour shades [brash] are not right), tartans woven in tweed and I saw more examples of that,than I knew existed on a recent trip to Harris and of course they would make a fine kilt. However, I am really not convinced that non tartan tweed in general does make a fine looking kilt. Perhaps, its my tartan kilt or nothing way of thinking at work here, but in my view of things the look of non tartan tweed kilts do not work.

You may be interested to know that non tartan tweed kilts are genuinely a very rare sight in Scotland, yes I know they are made and sold(House of Bruar may still sell them?) here and as far as I can recall, I have only ever seen one non tartan tweed kilt in the wild. A deer stalker, gone now I think, who would wear his heavy(28 ounce I expect) estate tweed, which was made into a three piece kilt suit, in all weathers and at all times. Midges, ticks, rain, blizzards, rocks, bogs, thorns-- the lot, were of no consequence to that hardy kilted man!

Yes they do. My mother has recently sent me their catalogue and they do list Harris Tweed kilts.

[Pleater]

I was at work this last weekend doing a lesson on an electronic knitting machine with a young man with family connections to the Irish tweed weaving tradition. I told him about this forum and the interest there is in tweed fabric, and hope that he might join up.

As the looms are 'proper' hand looms the fabrics have a real selvedge.

He doesn't have a loom here, nor the room to set one up, but he does have the family connections.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[jhockin]

We have a retailer here in the Chicago area, Vogue Fabrics, that always stocks an excellent selection of tweed and other traditional woolen suit fabrics (even cashmere blends) and also has kilt-making patterns, so I intend to enlist the sewing skills of my girlfriend's mom--the craftiest (in the good sense) woman I've ever met, who loves to have a project to keep her busy

Just wish to caution you regarding "patterns" for kilt-making. If you are going to spend the money for real tweed, I would urge you to spend a wee bit more ($35usd) and buy a copy of Barb's excellent book , "The Art of Kilt Making", so that you end up with a "real" kilt, that will fit YOU, and last a lifetime:
http://www.celticdragonpress.com