Fabric Definitions — definitions of fabrics, cloths, laces and textile materials from Apparel Search
Tweed is a type of fabric using the twill weave: a rough-surfaced woolen cloth, typically of mixed flecked colors, originally produced in Scotland. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure, and color effects in the yarn may be obtained by mixing dyed wool before it is spun.
Tweed is a type of fabric using the twill weave. It is a rough-surfaced woolen cloth, typically of mixed flecked colors, originally produced in Scotland.
It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Color effects in the yarn may be obtained by mixing dyed wool before it is spun. Tweed fabrics can have different patterns. Popular patterns include houndstooth, associated with 1960s fashion, Windowpane, gamekeeper's tweed worn by academics, Prince of Wales check, originally commissioned by Edward VII, and herringbone.
Harris Tweed: A handwoven tweed, defined in the Harris Tweed Act of 1993 as cloth that is "Handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides"
Donegal tweed: A handwoven tweed manufactured in County Donegal, Ireland. Donegal has for centuries been producing tweed from local materials. Sheep thrive in the hills and bogs of Donegal, and indigenous plants such as blackberries, gorse (whins), and moss provide dyes.
Silk tweed: A fabric made of raw silk with flecks of color typical of woollen tweeds.
Traditionally used for upper-class country clothing like shooting jackets, tweed became popular among the Edwardian middle classes who associated it with the leisurely pursuits of the elite. Due to their durability tweed Norfolk jackets and plus-fours were a popular choice for hunters, cyclists, golfers and early motorists
Who came up with the name tweed? The original name
of the cloth was tweel
(with an "L"), Scots for twill, the material
being woven in a twilled rather than a plain pattern. A
traditional story has the name coming about almost by
chance. Around 1831, a London merchant received a letter
from a Hawick firm, Wm. Watson & Sons, Dangerfield Mills
about some "tweels". The merchant misinterpreted the
handwriting, understanding it to be a trade-name taken from
the river Tweed that flows through the Scottish Borders
textile area. The goods were subsequently advertised as
Tweed and
the name has remained since.
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Tweed's signature look — a surface of mixed, flecked color rather than a flat solid — is made before weaving begins. Dyed wools are mixed before spinning, so a single yarn carries several colors, and the woven cloth shows them as a fine mottled texture: the eye averages the flecks into a rich, deep color that changes subtly with distance and light. That construction also explains tweed's rough surface: the woolen-spun yarns are lofty and slightly hairy, and the weave — plain, twill or herringbone — is a vehicle for the yarn rather than the decoration. The patterns that ride on it are among fashion's most durable: houndstooth, a sharp broken check that defined 1960s looks; windowpane, a large over-check; gamekeeper's tweed, the muted country check of academic and field dress; Prince of Wales check, commissioned by Edward VII and still the most formal of the family; and herringbone, the broken zigzag that reads almost as texture.
Tweed was traditionally used for upper-class country clothing such as shooting jackets, and became popular among the Edwardian middle classes who associated it with the leisurely pursuits of the elite. Its durability made Norfolk jackets and plus-fours the practical choice for hunters, cyclists, golfers and early motorists — garments that needed to survive weather, brambles and mud while looking the part. That country association never left, even as tweed moved into town suiting, skirts and coats: the cloth's appeal is still its blend of ruggedness and respectability, a fabric that looks at home on a moor and in a meeting room. The protected traditions carry the story forward: Harris Tweed's 1993 definition ties cloth to place and handwork in the Outer Hebrides, and Donegal tweed, made for centuries in County Donegal from local materials — sheep thriving in the hills and bogs, indigenous plants such as blackberries, gorse and moss providing dyes — keeps the link between a landscape, its sheep and its cloth that gave tweed its flecked colors in the first place.
The cloth's original name was tweel, Scots for twill, since it was woven in a twilled rather than a plain pattern. Around 1831 a London merchant received a letter from a Hawick firm, Wm. Watson & Sons of Dangerfield Mills, about some 'tweels', misinterpreted the handwriting as a trade name taken from the river Tweed that flows through the Scottish Borders textile area, and advertised the goods as Tweed — and the name has remained since.
A handwoven tweed defined in the Harris Tweed Act of 1993 as cloth that is handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides. The legal definition protects the name against imitation.
Popular patterns include houndstooth, associated with 1960s fashion, windowpane, gamekeeper's tweed worn by academics, Prince of Wales check, originally commissioned by Edward VII, and herringbone. Donegal tweed, handwoven in County Donegal, Ireland from local materials, and silk tweed, a fabric of raw silk with flecks of color typical of woollen tweeds, are further traditions.