This kilt is made using a mix of remnant textiles, created within my IV36 remaking initiative. It began with my clients piece of vintage Harris tweed, to explore what could be done with a small section of cloth she had kept for many years. A resourceful and artistic combination of textures from my own collection of deadstock, end of roll and vintage cloth was added, each highlighting a detail in her tweed — a matching purple, charcoal greys and some silk trims. Again Dashing Tweeds end of rolls came up trumps with the purple peak modern tweed used here, alongside my favourite African handwoven strip cloth from Urbanstax, both supported by another west coast weaver, Bute Fabrics with their wool rib in two colours used horizontally and vertically across the back. On the inside a 1950s wool from my vintage collection provides a cheerful welcome to its wearer each time it is worn. All items made through the IV36 initiative use existing quality garments and textiles and return 20% of their profits to provide training at the Keith Kilt School, in the now endangered craft of traditional kiltmaking, helping to secure these skills for the generations to come.
