Sourcing Fabrics

Over the Easter holidays I will source my fabric. I will first research into Scottish fabrics and clans before making my final choice.

For the jacket the drafting block stats 'Harris Tweed' and 'Shetland Cloth' for the Tweed Kilt Jacket, though a 100% wool can still be used historically. The jacket fabric colour would blend into the tartan fabric, this mean any colour can be used as long as it connects into the tartan. Normally for this style of jacket a weathered brown/ green or bark grey/ navy blue would be used though this varies greatly depending on the clan. In Edwardian times tartan became less used and instead a plain matching wool would be used for both the jacket and trousers, this was commonly a Tweed. 

As you can see from this photo of a Scottish hunting party, they wear a mixture of trouser and kilt in all Scottish tweed fabric:

The trousers become more common in Scotland rather than a kilt in the Edwardian period, though would still have been made from the tartan of their clan,  this faded out more during the later stages of the Edwardian period. However, the tartan kilt is still worn in modern times, socially in Scotland. I have decided to make the trousers from a tartan to date my costume between the late Victorian and early Edwardian period. This means that I will have to match the tartan to a plain fabric, which may be difficult.    

To start my costume I will have to source the following:

Around 14oz plain wool for the jacket (3meters)
Around  14oz tartan wool for the trousers (3meters)
Silk lining (2.5 meters)
Hair canvas (1 meter)
Shoulder canvas (0.5 meters)
Breast felt (0.5 meters)
Stay-flex (0.25 meters)
Braid (4 meters)
Around 22 buttons

I will now research into Scottish fabrics.