Design A Tartan
WHY DESIGN A TARTAN?
Although thousands of tartans are available from stock, sometimes you need to go the extra mile and get creative. Perhaps there is no tartan registered for your clan, your group wishes to create its own uniform or you simply want something to call your own. Whatever the reason, creating and weaving your own tartan is a lot easier than you might think.
Years ago, designing a new tartan would be a painstaking process. Designers would have to physically sketch a design, which threw up all sorts of issues when it came to tweaking colours and then telling a machine how to replicate the finished product. Thanks to the advancement of CAD (computer-aided design), the process is simple and straightforward.
The great thing about tartan is that no two designs are the same. Working closely with the official Register of Tartans ensures complete authenticity, meaning your creation is unique and recorded in the tartan archives indefinitely.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
We ask for a minimum 25% deposit to begin the design process, at which point we establish what you want your tartan to look like (we do not charge you a design fee). To do this, we need to know two things:
- What colours you would like (up to six max), including a rough percentage for each. For example; 50% black, 20% dark red, 20% light blue, 10% white.
- What type of design you’re looking for. Here are some examples:
Feel free to let us know if you have a favourite tartan, we can always use the design as a starting point. Our design team will create a few initial concepts, usually within the week, which will be forwarded to you via email.
Once you’ve chosen your preferred design, with or without any small changes, we will send a printed A4 image of your tartan in the post, wherever you are in the world, free of charge. This is shown to scale and is a very close representation of what you’re tartan will actually look like once woven. We’ll also send actual yarn samples of your chosen colours, which will be used in your tartan.
If you’re happy with the design at this stage and wish to officially register it, we recommend doing this before weaving, just in case it needs to be altered slightly for acceptance onto the register. This usually takes up to two weeks.
Before weaving, we ask that you make your order up to at least 50% paid. It can take up to three months to weave your tartan, but we can give you a more accurate lead time at this stage depending on the availability at our mill.
Once your tartan is woven and passes a rigorous quality control process, we can either deliver the full roll of cloth as it is or make a range of garments for you including kilts, skirts, scarves and much more. Any excess cloth or offcuts will be delivered with your completed garments.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
We will design your tartan free of charge, a service which usually costs anywhere between £350 and £500. If you wish to register your tartan, you can do this yourself via the official Register of Tartans at a cost of £70. We will provide you with the 'technical' details the Register requires, the rest is pretty straightforward. Alternatively, we can register the tartan for you at a cost of £120.
We can weave your tartan in a light 11oz, medium 13oz or heavyweight 16oz wool. We can even weave your tartan in Poly Viscose too! Cloth is double width, meaning it’s roughly 145cms wide (57 inches) and the more you order, the better the price:
Minimum order, 13 metres - £119 per metre (£1547 total)
20 metres - £99 per metre (£1980 total) SAVE 17%
32 metres - £79 per metre (£2528 total) SAVE 35%
45 metres - £64 per metre (£2880 total) SAVE 48%
65 metres - £56 per metre (£3640 total) SAVE 52%
Over 65 metres - Please get in touch
Due to the nature of the weaving process, it is not always possible to weave the exact amount required. To achieve the minimum length ordered, it may be necessary to produce up to 15% more fabric and the customer must be prepared to accept such additional quantity at the same price.
If you would like us to make the required garments from your tartan, prices are as follows:
5 Yard Casual Kilt - £179 (uses around 2.5 metres of tartan)
8 Yard Dress Kilt - £299 (uses around 4 metres of tartan)
10 Yard Prestige Kilt - £329 (uses around 4.5 metres of tartan)
Fly Plaid - £99 Fringed, £179 Knotted (uses around 1.4 metres of tartan)
Ladies Skirt, 4 styles available - £149 (uses around 2 metres of tartan)
Ladies Shawl - £39 (uses around 1.5 metres of tartan)
Ladies Sash - £24 (uses around 0.6 metres of tartan)
Scarf - £14 (uses around 0.3 metres of tartan)
Any other garments - Please get in touch
A CUSTOMERS PERSPECTIVE
"When my family and I decided to have our own tartan woven, we knew that Wales Tartan Centres would be the company to provide us with the best service and we were absolutely correct. The crew did an amazing job and made the process very pleasant. If you are planning to have your own custom tartan made into bespoke products, this is the company for you!" - Damian Broussard, Louisiana (USA)
READY TO ORDER?
The process starts with a conversation. No obligation, no sales pitch... We want to hear your ideas and guide you in the right direction! When you're ready to start your design journey, click here to get in touch and discuss your requirements.
