At the Tartan Day celebration here in Murfreesboro, I was set up next to a lady that handweaves tartan. She has a portable loom for the road and a non-portable one that stays at home. She does this as a hobby. And right now she is working on a project to weave pieces of each of the Stewart tartans. Well, of course, I start talking tartan to her. I asked her about weaving kilt length material. At first she was trying to discourage the used of her material because it would cost $150 a yard. But when I told her that a nice kilt could be made from as little as 5 yards, she began to see the potential. She is going to be at the Stewart tent in Gatlinburg next month. So I hope to get a chance to talk to her again.

My question to the kiltmakers. What is your opinion of handwoven tartan for a kilt? From the samples she had, it felt lighter and looser than machine woven. I don't know if she has ever done kilt length material before. Is this an investment worth looking into?