New old loom for weaving tartan

[Steve Ashton]

If there is one suggestion I could make it would be to search out your local spinners and weavers guild.
In my local area the weavers have been so generous with their time and knowledge that I cannot imagine taking a project like yours to full fruition.
You are going to need to be able to produce Twill weave fabric of between 10 and 16 oz per linear yard. Not hard, but not the same as the fabric for shirts, pants and/or other clothing.
Weaving a Tartan is not hard once you have a loom and have practice weaving some cloth. But the actual operation of a loom is just one small component of the entire process. It's not the loom itself that makes the cloth, it is the hands and muscle memory of the process along with all the other factors. Sourcing the warp and weft yarns is going to be one of the first hurdles. Are you going to spin the yarn yourself? Dye it yourself? Or find and purchase yarn from a commercial source? Do you want modern yarns of modern composition spun on commercial machines or do you have a source for home spun of the composition, weight, and tensile strength to warp your loom?
If you are new to weaving your local guild can be a major factor in your success.

Just one of the many looms in my house. This one is a manual countermarch style constructed of maple. This one is capable of 8 shafts although only four are needed for the current project. The only metal are some nuts and bolts and rods in the take-up. I did not construct this loom but have made many replacement and upgrade components. Heddles are Texsolv as I chose not to hand-tie a couple thousand heddles. This loom is 48 inches wide and can produce fabric 36 inches wide single or 72 inch wide double woven.
Yes a flying shuttle would be nice but adds over 6 feet to the width of the loom, hence to the size of room required.



Depending on how much, and how wide and long, a piece of fabric you wish to weave, you may not need or want a loom this large or complex. If you only want to produce samples perhaps a tabletop loom would suit you.



This 8 shaft Jack Loom is perfect for samples or prototyping, and will weave Twill fabric, but not of the width needed for a kilt. And the weaving takes longer due to its manual shaft operation.