our tweed

heritage

In the eighteenth century, woollen cloth in Scotland was woven on hand looms for domestic use, and although the face of this industry would completely change through innovation and industrialisation during the nineteenth century, there were still 7 families on Iona with their own hand looms in 1840 producing a woven cloth called ‘Iona Tweed’ which was worked by the 2 tailors on the island. Weaving carried on until after the Second World War with the last weaver, known as ‘Coll the Weaver’, making cloth on a Hattersley loom, the famous cast iron treadle loom synomonous with the weaving of Harris Tweed in the Outer Hebrides.

Although weaving had died out on Iona, we didn’t have to look far to have our tweed woven. Across the Sound of Iona, just 8 miles away as the crow flies, the tradition of using Yorkshire weaving technology in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland was alive and well at Ardalanish Mill on the Isle of Mull.

Local, sustainable, remarkable

In a converted cowshed on an organic farm sitting above the beautiful white sands of Ardalanish bay sits a tiny woollen mill, home to two Victorian technology Dobcross looms, powered by a wind turbine and expertly operated by artisan weavers under the watchful eye of master weaver Robert Ryan MBE.

Ardalanish specialises in weaving double width, luxury tweed with world class selvedges, and we are honoured to have our tweed woven with such consummate craftmanship on these heritage Looms.

The mill operates a zero waste policy, pays local weavers a living wage and uses their own source of renewable energy - truly a beacon of light in the textile industry and a benchmark for slow fashion. The journey from cone to cloth takes about a week as it passes through all the various traditional processes involved in tweed making. You can read more about the process here.

Beautiful, quality cloth

Once woven, our cloth is then sent to Galashiels to be’ finished’ in the last remaining textile facility of this kind in Scotland. They expertly wash and fix the fabric with steam, ensuring a uniform, robust cloth that keeps a crisp line and does not sag at the knees or elbows when sewn into a garment. They straighten the edges with tenterhooks and skim the surface with a sharp razor which results in a refined, smooth tweed that hangs with an elegant drape. These processes are, in order: scour, tenter, crop, decate.

Our tweed is double width (162cm) 64 inches and we sell it by the half-metre. It is a versatile cloth, fine enough to be tailored and sewn into garments and robust enough to be used for soft furnishings and upholstery. A truly artisan product that will last a lifetime.