Scotland Now

How Harris Tweed is made

2010-03-19T16:32:15Z

Gunn Tartan in Harris TweedI’m just back from a few days in the Hebrides, meeting Harris Tweed producers. I knew a bit about it before my visit, and like many people have always adored the fabric purely for its aesthetic quality. But now I’ve actually seen exactly how it’s produced I love it more than ever. So I wanted to share some of this…

So why is Harris Tweed so special? Here’s a fully illustrated piece I’ve just put together explaining, step by step, How Harris Tweed is Made. I hope you’ll find this as fascinating as I do!

Within a few weeks we expect to have literally hundreds of traditional patterns on sale, plus thousands of tartans which we can also weave as Harris Tweed, which will certainly mean we’ll have the largest retail choice of Harris Tweed anywhere in the world. Watch this space.

Tweed Patterns - a quick guide

2010-02-25T12:02:38Z

We’re often asked how to choose tweeds, from the hundreds of patterns available. Tweed is a fantastically beautiful fabric. But let’s be honest, at first sight a lot of tweeds can be a bit hard to tell apart when so many are basically variations on, erm, autumnal nature colours.

So we’re busy putting some better tools in place to help you choose the tweed you want. Firstly, here is a Quick Guide to Tweed Patterns. This should help you distinguish your Herringbone Tweed from your Houndstooth Tweed, and your Overchecks from your unpatterned twills.

And watch this space as we expect to be making a few more tweed-related announcements over the next few days and weeks, as we expand and improve our (already world-leading) ranges… and make it easier for you to find them!

A Poem for Burns Night

2010-01-23T10:19:28Z

With Burns Night just a couple of days away, I thought I might share my own personal favourite recitation. No, not by the bard himself, but by that other great wordsmith, Monty Python. I once heard Michael Palin recite this at Edinburgh Book Festival, and ever since it’s amused me. So if you’re looking for a party piece with a difference while tucking into Haggis, neeps, and whisky at your Burns Supper, here’s an offbeat idea for you…

Much to his Mum and Dad’s dismay,
Horace ate himself one day.
He didn’t stop to say his grace,
He just sat down and ate his face.

“We can’t have this!” his dad declared,
“If that’s lad’s ate, he should be shared”.
But even as he spoke they saw
Horace eating more and more.
First his legs and then his thighs,
His arms, his nose, his hair, his eyes…

“Stop him someone!”, Mother cried,
“Those eyeballs would be better fried!”
But all too late, for they were gone,
And he had started on his dong.
“Oh! Foolish child!” the father mourns,
“You could have deep-fried that with prawns,
Some parsley and some tartare sauce…”

But H. was on his second course:
His liver and his lights and lung,
His ears, his neck, his chin, his tongue;
“To think I raised him from the cot,
And now he’s going to scoff the lot!”

His mother cried: “What shall we do?
What’s left won’t even make a stew…”
And as she wept, her son was seen
To eat his head, his heart, his spleen.

And there he lay, a boy no more,
Just a stomach on the floor…
None the less, since it was his
They ate it. That’s what haggis is!

A Tartan Christmas

2009-12-15T16:37:50Z

We’re feeling all festive here at Scotweb (could it be because of the hundreds of Christmas presents we’re sending out the door?) and it got us thinking about a Christmas tartan.

Well, it turns out that Santa already has one. Called ‘Claus of the North Pole’ (STA No. 7869), the tartan has been designed by the folks behind the Clan Claus Society, which was set up last year. Its basic mission is to bring together the traditions of Scotland and the magic of Christmas in a family-friendly atmosphere that can be enjoyed by all. The society has the aim of “preserving and perpetuating the history, ideals, traditions, family values and heritage of the Scottish Santa Claus persona.” And part of this included designing a new tartan for Santa Claus himself.

Four colours are used in the tartan – red, green, yellow and white. The red represents the traditional colour for Santa, and the green the evergreen holly and mistletoe that signifies Christmas traditions. The three bands of yellow represent the three bags of gold that St. Nicholas gave the three daughters of the merchant, and the two bands of white are for purity, and the snow and ice of the North Pole.

So if Santa ever decides to opt for a look other than the bright red suit, it’s good to know he has a tartan option out there. And of course if you want to design your own Christmas tartan, you can do so here.

England are Out-Plaid

2009-12-08T10:40:25Z

USA World Cup 2010 TartanOkay, I admit it. I stole the headline from the Scotsman newspaper’s coverage. No one does great puns like a veteran journalist.

The story? Dear English readers, we hope you enjoy friendly teasing, of the kind only best mates can share. We’ve produced a tongue-in-very-cheeky new tartan designed for all “true” Scots wanting to show solidarity with the USA’s football (aka soccer to our colonial chums) team at the South Africa 2010 World Cup. After all, there are far more Scots living in North America than in Scotland itself. And to be honest, our American cousins are often rather better at celebrating our Scottish heritage than we are ourselves. So it seems only fair to produce their own special tartan. We thought we’d base it on Mel Gibson’s check from Braveheart, since the islander who designed and wove that is one of our producers. Then we wove into it the lines of the Stars and Stripes. Nice, huh? (Click the image above to enlarge it, or click here see its full details.)

Okay, admittedly it just so happens that the US team has been drawn in the same group as our other great friends, the English. And we acknowledge there may just be a regrettable perception that this is just another rehashing of the tired old tradition of Scotland supporting whoever England is playing in any sport, any time, anywhere, ever. The self-pitying underdog always blaming “them” for our woes, rather than actually getting off our lardy butts and doing it for ourselves, and all that. But no, that’s all in the past now, since we now control our own affairs with our own Parliament. We’re the new empowered self-confident nation that stands on our own ten million feet. But since we know and love our own team’s selfless dedication to dramatic last-hurdle oh-so-close glorious failure, we can still enjoy a little friendly rivalry, can’t we?

Apart from supporting our friends and family in America, we also produced this to show off the capabilities of our new online Tartan Designer. As the good chap from the Scotsman noted, this tartan was not just designed, but ON SALE within an hour of the World Cup draw. Order a properly made kilt in pure new wool, delivered to your door within a few weeks. Or go the whole hog and we’ll weave it for you in authentic Harris Tweed, produced on a traditional loom in an islander’s own home (as required by Act of Parliament).

Or of course, you can also design your own…

Tartan, brought home

2009-10-07T11:44:57Z

The Winning EntryLast night saw Scotland’s most glittering event in living memory… well, mine anyway… when around six hundred of the world’s most glamorous… plus me… saw the winner announced of the Bringing Home the Tartan! design competition. Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Paul Smith - they were all there. Seldom have I shared a room with such smart clobber.

For any of you less fortunates, perhaps stuck in Novosibirk or even Edinburgh, Tristan da Cunha, where global fashionista buzz may fail to, well, buzz, or who were unable to beg, steal, or borrow a red hot ticket for a show A-Listers will recall with reverence for years, you may need reminding that this was the competition promoted by the National Archives of Scotland to mark the launch of its official Scottish Register of Tartans. Entries flooded in by the dozen (indeed three figures, I heard) from all over the world of Scottish art schools. And by all accounts, a jolly fine lot they were.

The Creator Ms MacIverBut as with any such Great Race, a winner must emerge, and rise to tower frothily above the rest. And in this case first prize went to Heriot-Watt University’s Maxine MacIver for a close-fitting catsuit from her Melvina collection. So hearty congratulations Maxine. I’m certain the feline community will think it just purrfect.

Katherine the Quite GoodKatherine Butler, also from ‘the Watt’ ran up in second place with a sort-of-male outfit for everyday workwear, or perhaps just slopping about in your typical minimalist steel-and-glass loft apartment, entitled Urban Reiver. Personally I can see her collection filling the terraces of every football stadium in the country before long, as the look catches on. What do you think?

The show did in fact feature a few finalists that might be worn by mere mortals from time to time, some of which looked rather fabulous. Though clearly not fabulous enough to wow the judges. Bad luck guys. But console yourself that you may have a future in clothing design.

Seriously, it was a great night, and major congratulations are due to all involved.

Essential Scotweb - the quality you expect, at prices you don't!

2009-09-15T13:54:29Z

Essential Scotweb Casual KiltI’m delighted to announce the launch of our new Essential Scotweb range. Responding to the economic mood, this fiercely price-competitive range gives a real choice to consumers who would prefer properly made heirloom garments but have reluctantly turned to the ‘Tartan Tat” vendors to save money. Both budget conscious and environmentally concerned customers can afford to invest in lifetime quality garments, suitable even for landmark events like weddings.

Essential Scotweb kilts, tartan skirts, and tartan homewares are made locally to authentic standards by traditional producers, without compromising the top quality materials and tailoring for which Scotweb is known. They are priced to compete fiercely with the infamous ‘tartan tat’ merchants importing substandard copycat products from cheap labour economies. So for example the Essential Scotweb complete formal Prince Charlie kilt outfit is priced at under £500, for a package normally retailing at £750 or more.

Crucially, garment quality is not compromised. The Essential Scotweb 8 Yard Kilt is actually made by Balmoral Kilts and Highland Dress kiltmakers who produce Scotweb’s flagship garments. So it is always custom made to measure for each customer, from locally woven pure new wool tartan fabrics. This exquisitely tailored kilt is available in a range of the most popular tartans.

Scotweb already offers the world’s largest range of tartan fabrics and garments, backed up by expert personal service. Founder and Managing Director Dr Nick Fiddes is a governor of the Scottish Tartans Authority, and the company is committed to offering authentic products made locally by traditional producers. By retailing mail order by phone and on the internet, Scotweb saves the overheads of high street premises, and passes on these savings to its customers. It is one of the few heritage retailers anywhere in the world that promises to shun imported copies with their inferior production standards.

Moon Landing - by a Scot who boldly went

2009-07-22T10:45:14Z

Moon Landing TartanIt’s said that there are at least ten times as many Scots living beyond our shores than on our wee island itself. We’ve spread far and wide, and done some pretty cool stuff along the way… Wherever you turn, you’ll find our mark on history, whether it’s writing the US Constitution, setting up the Bank of England, or inventing television.

But this seems a good time to remember One Small Step that was also taken by a Scot, one Neil Armstrong, as he stepped down from Apollo 11. Indeed in 1972, Neil Armstrong was made a freeman of Langholm in the Scottish borders, the tradition seat of Clan Armstrong - and he is now considered the town’s greatest son.

So what better way to mark this 40th anniversary of that great day than to design a tartan in honour of NASA’s incredible achievement. Based on the Armstrong sett, the Moon Landing tartan uses the colours of space, the blue earth, and the distant glow of the moon.

Make History! Design your own unique tartan - free!

2009-07-17T14:17:52Z

It’s not often we can claim something historic, but this time it’s true. Tartan is one of Scotland’s iconic treasures. But it’s always been the preserve of experts. The recording and weaving of family tartans has long been mostly for those who could afford expert tartan design fees, and expensive weaving in large volumes.

But now Scotweb is putting tartan design into anyone’s hands. We’re inviting a wave of creative possibility. And we’re making it affordable for any family, business, club, or other group to design and produce their own unique and distinctive tartan, and have it produced in short lengths even for individual garments. Just how great is that!

Or else just play and have fun. (It’s all free!) There’s no better way to understand the principles of tartan design than to look at existing designs and see how they work. Our tools make this easy, letting you change any tartan’s colours or arrangement in an instant.

Before you start, it may help to read the rest of this posting. There are a lot of nice features to the new facility. You should work most out for yourself, but have a quick look now to see the sorts of thing you can do…

Design your own Tartan - have a sneaky peek!

2009-03-10T12:23:24Z

Here’s something pretty wonderful for anyone who likes tartan. Our amazing tech team has been beavering away for months on a new (free) online Design-your-own-tartan feature. And it’s now ready for limited **Invitation Only ** beta launch.

So what’s new, you may ask. There have been online tools letting you create tartans for years. Well, yes, sort of… But this one’s different. Very different. Firstly, it far easier for the ordinary person to use than any that’s gone before. But the intuitive and user-friendly front gives access to some very powerful tools…

For example, you can load any existing tartan, and modify it! This applies both to officially recorded tartans, and ones that other Scotweb members have designed and published in the new Gallery feature.

We also give you access to not one but three colour palettes. There’s a simple one for designing tartans you wish to record in the traditional way with only broadly defined colours (or perhaps for schoolchildren to use). There’s a “Weaver’s” palette, where you can even see photographs of the actual thread cones our weavers use to produce tartans. And there’s a “Pro” palette for corporate users wishing to define their brand shades precisely.

The tools let you add colours from those or from a ‘working shelf’, then pull levers, drag entries, key in numbers, and various other ways to add and re-order your chosen shades. All great fun. And uniquely (and we’ve patented this bit) it all happens instantly on your screen, without having to click and wait for a graphic image to be produced like all other systems we’ve seen. (You can, if you wish, do this too, for an even higher quality photorealistic image.)

You can also save your designs. Give them names. Give them descriptions. Explain the rationale behind their creation. Comment on other users’ designs. And (very soon) you can request an expert review of your tartan design (for a reasonable fee) from one of the world’s leading tartan authorities.

But we’ve saved the best for last. And this really is unique. You can also get your tartans woven! Yes, with just a few further mouse clicks you can order fabrics, kilts, skirts, and dozens of other products in your own unique tartan designs, in a range of top quality wools produced specially for you at one of Scotland’s most traditional mills. Many more fabrics like polyviscose or polycottons are coming soon, all in short length runs, or with bulk discounts. Pricing is much the same as our other custom-weave fabrics (i.e. a massively good bargain!). And we even give you back 10% of every sale of your tartan (either to you, perhaps your club members, or anyone who likes your design if you’ve published it in the Gallery) in the form of Scotweb Points. What’s not to love!!

There’s just one small catch. The Tartan Design facility is ~~only available by Invitation Only~~ [EDIT: now publicly available!], whilst we beta test the features, and finish off some of the remaining design improvements. Once you’ve been invited, you in turn can invite a few other friends (up to 5) who you think might like it. But we want to keep numbers limited until we have all systems functioning smoothly. We’d also appreciate if you let us know about any confusions or problems you come across meanwhile, in return for being let in early.

But as an esteemed reader of this blog, I’d be happy to invite you personally. Contact me via the “Want to Contribute” link to the right. But note, first you should register with the Scotweb membership system (which is free). And when contacting me, include the email address you used to register there. That’s necessary as I have to send the invitation to the same address.

Hope you think it’s as cool as we do. This is going to be big! So why not be one of the very first to explore it?