Weaving Tartan in the USA? Is it Ethical? Is it Feasible?

We were asked what would be involved if one were to undertake setting up a real wool tartan mill in the United States. How would it look and operate? Could it be a viable business? Or would it be unethical appropriation of Scottish culture to create an American tartan mill?
Rocky shares his experiences with American weavers he has known and goes over the good, bad and ugly of building a tartan business state-side.
Tartans in this video:
Rocky: Stewart Old Ancient
www.usakilts.c...
Ian: Angel's Share
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Started in 2003, USA Kilts is a team of kilt makers and artisans located in Spring City PA. In 2017, we made it our mission to build community and bring kilts and Celtic culture to the forefront with our YT show: Kilts & Culture.
www.USAKilts.com
Find Your Tartan!: www.usakilts.c...
KZbin: / usakiltsofficial
Facebook: / usakilts
Instagram: / usakilts
E-mail: [e-mail]

[@ShaunHopkinsAVFC]

Ian’s outfit is so very sharp. The man sure has a sense of style

[@USAKiltsOfficial]

He does!

[@davidmcclelland2661]

Cloth is an old production model going back 700 + years. Wool scourers, carders, dyers, spinners, weavers, fullers, finishers. All vital tasks in making wool cloth. All requiring space to work, soak, beat and dry. I originally came from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, which was a major wool textile industry center because of its valleys and soft water.

[@davidcunningham00]

I ordered my kilt 8 days ago, I did ALOT of research, I wanted a really good kilt, I either wanted made in the USA or Scotland, so all of those cheap kilt places went bye bye, I came across USA KILTS on KZbin, my choice came down to Henderson kilts in the UK or USA KILTS, the price was about the same so I called each company, for me I liked that USA KILTS is on here to teach and that was the deciding factor for me, I believe both are of top notch and will both make a great kilt. That's my 2 cents ant worth much, take it as you will.

[@fabricboi]

I’m a weaver!! I purchase my wool from Canada who resells yarn from Lochcarron of Scotland and I send the cloth to Houston kilt makers to be finished and sewn into a kilt they send to the person who wanted the kilt

[@philw8049]

Good for you for standing up for something you believe in, far too little of that these days.

[@CaomhanOMurchadha]

Thank you for this! I am not deterred in any manner. I am dead set on getting a weaving mill up and running

[@sweeabn6736]

IAN!!! I had never seen one of your videos and then I spoke with you today on the phone - now you are all over the place. LoL

[@Szordorl]

Pretty cool insight into the business end of things. I nearly jumped out of my bones when I saw the cost for a custom tartan on your website, now I kinda get it. I look forward to losing the weight and gaining the funds to buy from y’all.

[@tbizzelltx]

Custom cloth can be problematic. The mills have a set of standard colors/palettes that they use for their stocked tartans. To be economical in small quantities, your pattern should use those colors. Places like Lochcarron or Marton Mills need to weave a minimum about of cloth to make things worthwhile and even at those minimums, cost of the cloth is high. When they weave stocked tartans, they produce bolts of 30 or 60 meters of double width cloth. The run could be 120 meters, 240 meters, etc. They keep the loom in operation. The fixed setup cost becomes less important. For 10 meters, they endure the switch over costs and some down time on that loom. Lochcarron has 1 single width loom. The cost per meter can be quite reasonable. The min order is 30 meters. There is a website in the UK where you can get a custom weave in single width 130z cloth, but they require a 9 meter min. I assume the mill is House of Edgar. The website does not say. It is still over $100 per meter for single width cloth. The same website was charging $170/meter for 16oz for Dalgliesh cloth unless you order 7.4 meters(kilt) and then the costs drop. Into every weaving, there is a fixed startup cost regardless of the length.

[@SSG5thSFGA]

You really said it about Celtic craftspeople. I have made the mistake of "saving" a great deal of money on something I would use very little, buying it from a "London" company that was a front for a south Asia weaver and tailor. Now I have something that is nearly unwearable, totally nonreturnable, and is not allowed to hang with my USA Kilts.

[@Chaotic_Pixie]

You’d need to do vertical integration to make weaving successful. That’s why so many alpaca farms process their own fleeces and spin it into their own yarn or dye the fiber for others to spin and often also weaving. I think getting your hands on locally made kilt hose is a viable option though. There are plenty of home knitters.

[@hislairdship8961]

Ben Tart of B&B Tart Historic Textiles could also be an option. Mac probably knows of them.

[@darthazgorath9570]

I would love an "in the grease" great kilt. Would be nice to see that as an option on the sight.

[@timeastwoodbagpiper]

8:20 I love your videos and love your consistent insight. Though your car company analogy is interesting, Ford tried to produce its own infotainment system and it failed miserably. Car companies try to produce their own sat nav systems but its never as good as Google or Apple sat nav. Though those two companies do own our souls. There's a reason they know who's sat in traffic jams and who's not.

[@gryffydd42]

I think Pendleton Wool mills in Oregon makes tartans, but am not sure if they have grades suitable for kilts.

[@Hammerli280]

I think part of the problem would be that the total market for tartan cloth is limited. Once that market has been filled, any expansion in production would be at the expense of someone else.

[@eighties73]

There used to be a company named Bonbright Woolens out of California that weaved tartan. Don't know if they're still around or not.

[@WildAndGourmet]

I like Ians tartan! I love the autumnal look! But I can't find anywhere that stocks it in the UK :(

[@adaman-tathair-siorai6555]

It's not stocked because it's a restricted tartan. However, if you check the name (Angel's Share) on the registry, you'll find who owns the design, and you can see if he will sell you the right amount of cloth, or if he will make the kilt for you.

[@raycampbell136]

do you guys sell the brave tartan

[@christopherebert402]

As far as I know, No one does. It is copyrighted by Disney.

[@raycampbell136]

@@christopherebert402 thats not fair lol

[@christopherebert402]

@@raycampbell136 I know. I would want one too. What is dumb it Disney could make a lot of money from it.

[@ludokerfluffle6232]

The Appalachian Center for Craft teaches weaving in their fibers program.

[@thomasbeckett1245]

Saskatoon has a weaving club. Weaving is still done here.

[@rickmoore3730]

WOW . I have had two kilts made by The Kilt Lady in Saskatoon and one more on the way . I will ask her about it next time we are talking .

[@charlesdriggers199]

I like your business model.

[@James-dq3jo]

It would be easier to get Balmoral tartan if we wove it in the USA

[@straycat1674]

My concern with the question of whether this is ethical or not is that it as soon as if something like this can only be done in Scotland. We except so many other things manufacturing and other places, but we want to pigeonhole other things and apply some arbitrary morality and ethics to where they can and cannot show that should not be manufactured, produced or sold from. I mean by the mindset USA kilts should not be doing business. Because they’re not Scottish and they’re selling a Scottish heritage product. Oktoberfest should not exist within Busch Gardens because it’s an American amusement park and not in Germany.

[@tbizzelltx]

This is why I will not support some of the other US based operators. They do source from Pakistan etc. They are no better than ordering from certain websites in UK or Germany that turn the orders over to MacNaughton, etc. They are not adding value. They are just acting as a middleman. The UK site directly supports DC Dalgliesh. It opens up a market for those Scottish industries. It made things easy to weave custom cloth and get a kilt in some very good cloth. I just ordered a hand sewn kilt from a well respected independent kilt maker. He turned around and ordered the cloth from DC Dalgliesh who has already woven the pattern.

[@darcybissonpullen7125]

What a aboot Canada they don't what to Answer about the tartan

[@fishinwidow35]

My father and grandfather were loom fixers and my grandmother was a weaver. My grandfather eventually because a mill boss (I know they don't call it that any more) The industry has been gone since the mid to late 60s when polyester became the norm.

[@ludokerfluffle6232]

Also kilts were not traditional. They were a military fashion in the 1700s.

[@kimnielsen5692]

No, cultural misappropriation. There are mills in scotland

[@peterwallis4288]

I think that's the wrong term. What if they are Scottish Americans? Also, is making kilts in the USA ok? Why is making kilts ok but not weaving tartan?

[@fishinwidow35]

How? We have a huge Scottish population here in the US.

[@therealjetlag]

Except Scottish people don’t care. Only Americans care about cultural appropriation.