How Tweed Is Made: Visiting Lovat Mill | From Suit To Shoot | Episode 9
[Music] Well you and i selected the fabric so Basically it was my job then to go Styling it with you uh reaching out to The mill [Music] And simon here is your tv design fresh Out the loom And then meanwhile alex has been cutting Your passengers from the measures he Took distributes it with the trimmings All get bundled together and given out To the relevant parties making your Garment in your case i’ve actually Selected a fantastic brace of heritage Guns which i would love to show you Which i think will be ideal for what You’re going to be doing in scotland can We see him [Music] Well here we are [Music] I’m kirby allison and for years now i’ve Been exploring the world of quality Craftsmanship and tradition i’ve been Invited on my very first game shoot up On an estate in scotland and i want to Make sure that i do it properly the Proper outfit the proper guns the proper Etiquette but in today’s world does all Of this still exist And if so why [Music] [Applause]
[Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Today i’ve come to hoik an hour south of Edinboro and scotland known as the home Of tweed to visit the famous lovett mill Now lovett is actually weaving the exact Same fabric that simon cundy of henry Poole is going to use to make my bespoke Five-piece shooter so let’s head inside Meet the team tour the factory and learn About the incredible commitment to Quality craftsmanship and tradition that Lovet exemplifies [Music] Stephen hi it’s so nice to meet you yes Thank you for having me alex Pleasure pleasure it’s so great to be Here in hoick and to finally meet you Two gentlemen and to be here at levitt Mill thank you hey so lovely to have you Here kirby so what you want to do we’ll Get you here take you upstairs and we’ll Introduce you to james and the rest of The team yeah we’ll take it from there Can’t wait come along yeah thank you Well gentlemen thank you so much i mean Here we are in hoik you know the home of Tweed at levitt mill which is widely Considered the preeminent uh weaver of Sporting and estate tweeds and you guys
Have done this beautiful piece for me That simon is working on a bespoke five Piece shooter and i can’t tell you i Couldn’t be any more honored and excited To be here you know we had a tour of the Bill yeah i must say i’m astounded at Everything that goes into this which We’ll certainly get to soon But wow There’s a lot goes into tweet we’re Delighted you’re here we have to say and Good to see you soon such a fantastic i Wanted to see if we could just start With a brief history of tweed one of the Things that i find absolutely Fascinating Is the authenticity behind tweed and That it is a A product of scotland right that really Has evolved Over hundreds of years and it evolved Here actually in the scottish borders Because originally there have always Been sheep in the borders but originally Spinning was done by the the lady or the Woman of the house basically on hand Spinning And at that time weavers were itinerant Weavers they came around and when there Was enough wool to Weave they would actually take the wool From the woman and actually convert it Into fabric And these cloths were have generally
Two-ply twill fabrics known as tweels That worked for scottish word for twill And that was the very beginnings of the Business that was early early days were Talking 16 17th century And Everything was very fluid very Peripatetic and in fact that settled Down and became an established business With hand loom weavers living In the towns Weaving making a living they didn’t have To go traveling to do their weaving they Could do it all here And it became a settled business and of Course as time goes on you had in fact If you think about it the elements you Require a good supply of breeds that Became the cheviot breed of scotland Great wool long staple great for making Milling and making good tweets then you Had a supply of water for washing and so Forth and then you had a fairly Dexterous workforce that combination was Great because the with that you could Then begin to get the beginnings of an Industry beginning to form and get Together Yeah interesting i mean weed in so many Ways began as a cottage industry and Then with the industrialization You know developed into what we really See it now as it really exploded i mean Along the way there was difficulties
With england and scotland and economic Uh Contraction and expansion of the Industry So complex history A complex history but but as as the the The Industry began to industrialize You had things happen 1849 you had the Railway was driven south from the cool Fields just south of edinburgh down into The borders and that reduced the cost of Coal to about an eleventh of what it had Been before really wow Extraordinary and a little thing you Might think but that means that your Energy becomes so much cheaper suddenly You can work with the new chemistry and Dye stuff that’s coming along being Developed about the same time To create bright colors and this is Where designers like alan of his day Would have the most incredible fun Creating new types new yarns Multi-colored fabrics but also along the Road too came the development of the Town industrially with building of mills But also the duke of the clue funded a Huge expansion to the water system to Deliver a million gallons a day into the Mills of hoik And at that time it was a thrumming Place to to produce tweets yeah and the Water i mean that was delivered to
Actually help power the mills correct And also the washing and dyeing process But of course you needed water less in Those days because remember coal was Coming so steam engines were in place to Actually turn looms so originally had Been water but of course was moving into A sort of steam driven industry and then Ultimately of course coal Um producing turbine to produce Electricity as the Technologies that just advanced and There’s the origin of the word tweed Right outside yeah well that’s true Yeah allen will tell you that so what is I mean where did the term tweet come From well going back to as steven Mentioned going back to The early 1800s Heavy woolen cloth was referred to as a Tweel because it was a twill Construction And most cloths were woven on the 12 Construction so The scottish word was twill And you would buy your bale of of tweel And there so happened that uh locks um You may know locks the hatters in london Well there was a branch of that family Which were a merchant cloth merchant Okay And they ordered Some cloth from a mill just that was
Just down the road from us literally 100 Yards and that was watson’s mill and They ordered a bale of Tweel as it should be it referred to and The cloth was delivered to locks and Whether on the advice note there was a Smudge or Maybe a slight Misunderstanding of the the calligraphy And The the the guy down at locks Read this Delivery note and misread it as the word Tweet because at that time in london Uh the river tweed up here was becoming Very popular for fishing And so it made complete sense that they Received this bale of tweed from this Part of the Part of the country and he replied with You know many thanks for Bail tweet received etc and And so the the actual Watsons um Seized on this as a as a name for his Product And from the known uh it was referred to As as tweets so it’s really a Misunderstanding of the word tweel yeah And that’s that’s the the foundation of The book that’s funny and that’s on Commercial road which which runs just Outside the mill it’s really kind of Incredible because i guess coining the
Term i guess you know wasn’t properly Trademarked but really trademarking the Fabric under the name tweed Really coincided with tweed really Integrating into the social fabric Literally Of of the the country right because Around that same time you were having People pursuing more sporting indeed Right and the estates started picking up Tweets william could have copyrighted it At that time yeah maybe Yeah yeah it’s probably a good thing you Didn’t there wouldn’t have been so many Mills using the term right But but you touch on something that’s Quite important because in that time Victorian era Has came along you had the great Highland estates for sporting use and These sporting Occasions basically brought drew people From london and society to spend time up There Stag stalking Salmon fishing and so forth and people Had to be appropriately dressed yeah and The states themselves Actually developed a whole language of Estate tweets of creating their own Designs that would distinguish them each From another And there was a certain snobbery about It sometimes they were for
Camouflage purposes so they really Emulated the hillsides that we’re going To be stalking on sometimes they were a Little bit more excessive and a bit more Striking But visitors to these weekends very Often came from regiments and they of Course didn’t have their own so regiment Started to have their own regimental Tweets and we’re pleased to say that Today we produce over 200 of them it’s Still and it’s still very much an Important part of what we do and it it Really defines the heart of what lovett Mill Is about yeah the state and regimental Tweeds indeed and that we produce most Of the juco estate so if you shaded the Map of the uk we would probably be Covering quite a lot of the country with Our own designs for specific areas There’s a whole Range in this book here where we have A System and you can see it Over about 200 of these And If we may take this through So what is this book called this well This is this basically it’s the estate Tweet book it’s the virtually a register Of the estate suites we do There are other mills that may produce a Few but we are by far the way the
Biggest producer is so these are the Active tweeds that are still in current Use indeed and some of them if they’re a Small estate may not come back to us for Five or six ten years and say look we Need another bale of tweets you know Which is fine um but some of them have a Great history there’s almost a history Or story behind each one this this one Is the duke of marlborough’s tweed um Yeah this one is an estate where it’s Actually 17 miles from the gate to the Castle so they just do it the helicopter Which you would And There’s a great range of types of Designs types of colorations some of Them are very eccentric and very bold And really out there to make a statement But then as steven said Quite a few of them are Developed as Essentially as camouflage Tweed originally was a uh I mean it was like the original Performance fabric in that You know it was working it was a working Fabric that was worn out on the estate It’s still very much an important part Of country sporting life and and the States and it is It’s not a case of it was a performance Fabric it’s still the ultimate Performance fabric and with all its
Natural credentials as well it really Taps into what’s going on today yeah so It’s not just something we were in texas On the weekends [Laughter] So some of these fabrics in this book Have real history about them this this Is known this fabric type it’s the Jukabcluse older pattern Um it is a bannock burn it means it’s a Three ply three colors twisted together And woven in a plain weave a thorn-proof Fabric Uh it’s rarely seen today but we carry On making that for them This one is the duke of devonshire’s Pattern okay now Each one has they have different rules The duke of berkley would never wear This one They have their own rules about what They do in their own ground after all if You’re a jew yeah pretty much sure that Should be said the british love creating Rules These are very much exclusive to the Estate so the regiments we would never Make these for very well so we could Never yeah yeah without fear of uh Upsetting you know and physical harm So it’s very much alive today and alan Uh the By far the greater part of this work as Estates are sold and sometimes divided a
New tweet is required yeah and the Family might come in and remember an Estate tweet is the pattern that’s to do With the land a tartan is a pattern That’s to do with a family name okay so The Very clear distinction between the two Types i have to say tartans are Not terribly challenging because in Textile design terms what goes that way Goes that way and it doesn’t really Require the ingenuity that we have as a Tweet designer well there is a lot of Complexity here in terms of the variety Of design and how would that have been Kind of influenced as someone is seeking To commission an estate tweed You know how do they approach That how do they integrate the Camouflage element into it it’s really Whatever The customer is is looking for whatever The state owner is looking for i mean The first The first part of the process is very Much just sitting down and talking Through exactly how this the tweet is Going to be used whether it’s going to Be used as a working tweet within the Estate or whether it’s going to be worn By the family As a kind of Uniform for for the family name um so Once we get past that it’s it’s it’s a
Case of what are the important colors What what what performance is required How heavy is the does the tweet need to Be Are there specific colors maybe in the Family crest that they want to include In the in the tweed and is it going to Be Is essential that it’s camouflaged Within a certain Um landscape At a certain time of year And all that is taken on board and we Try to incorporate that in the in the in The coloration and the type of design That it is yeah but each case is is can Be quite different It really depends on on what they’re They’re looking to To use how they’re looking to use the Tweed yeah but some of them go back into Almost prehistory and textile design Terms and this is this particular one is Called fanuc And it’s it’s a pattern warp and weft That you would generally not Combine and yet look at it it stands and It is just gorgeous you know Um Other ones this on the Military front the this is the royal Scottsdale guards and To a textile designer this is The victorian designer that put this
Together in the first place was pretty Clever It uses little tricks to Vary the pattern as it goes in different Directions Great fun and i’ve always said it and we We live it day and daily but we’re Really standing on the shoulders of Generations of designers and cloth tweed Makers before us and you’re reminded of That day and daily yeah because i mean You know 1850 is the standards in Scotland or the united kingdom is really Recent modern history And but i mean a lot of these designs Are dating back to that time Yes indeed yes indeed and Fun to do and as i say we we we’re never Tired of looking at these things uh we Have other designers handbooks uh which Go back uh a lot of them to one designer Who left records in small black books Really going back to 1900 a little bit Before uh which are just personal Notes to self just really you know if i Make this again i’ll do it this way yeah It’s very personal business we just get So involved in it yeah well this is Again goes back to the authenticity of The brand of love it right is the fact That it has been in operation for a long Time you guys do have a historically Accurate archive That you know wasn’t just invented in
The last 10 years i mean this really Dates back The other point that’s important to note Is you you have your hands here on a Tweet which is very much traditional It’s right in the in the genre if you Like in terms of design but actually in Weight it’s actually Moved away from the heaviest heaviest Weights because that wasn’t the way you Wanted you wanted something that was Actually lighter comfortable more freer But still very much bang on character And this is something we do a lot of Where we have cloths from the heaviest Say which is We look at this cloth here Remember All these fabrics come originally from a Time when weight was warmth Yeah yeah and weight was performance Well you didn’t have central heating and It was could be a rather inhospitable Climate and you were probably going to Get very wet on your horse so This fabric here actually dates from Right back to the origins of this Business where we have a two-ply high Twist and if you feel that fabric it’s Crisp it’s performance and we actually In this particular quality we actually Give it a teflon finish so it’s got some More dwr performance too Um
Ideal for stalking great weight it’s got A good season But it’s still as valid today as it was Then which is extraordinary now Interestingly this is a combination of Worsted and woolen so this combination Of combed wools which is the worsted Component and woolen sponge which is Roughly carded fibers The origins of our business here go back To As it was called then blank horn Richardson which was taking a Yorkshireman blank horn And richardson scott Of course blankhorn Back in 1880s had his origins uh Understanding the worsted system Which is not typical in scotland But richardson With him he put Thoughts together to combine these two Aspects just to say how do we get a Tweel which was two-ply woolen a tweed In the old style into a lighter weight With exactly the same performance and of Course combining worsted and woolen they Were able to do that And that allowed at that time these Cloths to drop down in weight and then Reach a far wider market across what was The british empire but still maintaining The character yeah of the original Tweets so the woolen is the the more
Tightly No the the woolen is not the combed one Yeah the wooden is the roughly cardage So it’s the one where you you’ll find More variety of colored fibers and Traditionally and more bulkier The traditional tweezers yes that would Be as if you were hand spinning but of Course mechanized but the worsted is Combed repeatedly combing and combing The fibers to parallelize them before You spin and it allows you to get fewer Fibers and cross-sections so you can get A strong yarn of fine yarn So this is the principle quality Probably going to The tv yeah which would be the They call this biggest Proof because that’s a term that i know Don’t prove for something else We can go into what an actual thorn Proof cloth does The the term thorn proof has been kind Of debased over the years okay and to The perception is that it’s it’s a cloth That will will put up with a thorn being Pushed into it and in actual fact the Original thorn-proof cloths were plain Weave high twist Woolen cloths And the the main benefit of them was That they didn’t snag it wasn’t so much That they could protect a Thorn going through the actual cloth
Um so that that’s a slightly different Yeah we tend to get a bit uh Well that’s one of the things I think We’re going to get into it later but i Think again one of the things that Really fascinates me is just the uh the Breadth and scope of tweed i mean tweed Isn’t just one thing i mean it’s it’s Entire You know i mean it’s an entire kind of Ecosystem of diverse fabrics i mean you Know they really range the gamut And that’s fast Most of them are made here actually This lighter one though is tv and this Is actually the quality Uh that you have for your tweet okay and And the actual construction Is still very much uh goes back to the Heavier woolen worsted twists but here Here you’re using a Lighter lambswool softer lambswool And the proportion of worsted in the Cloth is slightly higher so it allows You to to make a Although the same basis it allows you to Make a lighter construction lighter Softer type cloth And still maintain the character of the Rich color mixtures Within within the tweed It’s not a cloth that you would use for For crawling over rocks and through
Heather necessarily to go stalking but It is still very much in the family of Of sporting tweets and perfect for maybe More for shooting ideal for a gun not a Beater So moving on then to if we go to The Curtain quality which Which is a single tribute and remember The cheviot sheep are the the local Sheep of the area It’s bright wool it takes dye stuff well And it reflects the color strongly so You generally see this with when you Deal with uh lambswool fabrics it’s Finer wool it’s less reflective and you Can see a madness about this one you can See a brightness about it it does have a Brightness and this is one of our leap Qualities today still um we haven’t Changed the recipe for 100 knows how Many years And In that respect we’re faithful to the Originals that really created these Products their first class then and Their first class now Beautiful But We can go on in in fabric turns To Something here where the fabric is A tweed yet lighter and it’s more Contemporary
And this was introduced not too long ago Yeah this is a new supported bunch from Love it mill um and it really taps into A maybe a wider appreciation of what Tweed is We tend to see or to View tweets very much as country Sporting performance type cloths whereas There’s a great part of the world out There that A tweed is much more a softer shetland Type construction and that’s what for This actually is made from soft shetland Wools Which Again give you the the rich color Mixtures but a softer more contemporary Type drape so perfect for for more Unstructured type garments what’s the Weight of this compared to the weights Of Those does that even really Enter into it compared to this this is 500 grams that’s 16 ounce And this is this is this is down about 25 percent lighter okay um And Again it’s not not a performance tweet And but it’s still very much Proper weekend tween yeah and it carries The whole beautiful hard jacket yes a Younger man might wear that more readily Um and in fact if we we export our cloth All around the world fifty percent of
What we make here goes around the world And this uh to the far east actually uh Has appeal Surprised that it’s only fifty percent Right i mean that speaks to the strength Of your domestic business it’s true we We supply the major gun makers Um with all their fabrics and um 50 the 50 uk a lot of that is Then we go the full Um The full shetland islands we have a a Very small sheep in scotland the pure Shetland breed smaller sheep we have in Our Of our breeds And they grow a multi-colored fleece Sometimes they’re white sometimes They’re dark they’re not black isn’t Very black the white isn’t very white But there’s lots of grays and browns And the shetland islands basically are So far north you have to remember that Their nearest railway station is bergen In norway Than the scottish mainland And These sheep produce a very fine fleece And We grayed out the wall is graded out Should i say not by us but graded out to The different shades they all have Wonderful norse names like muric mogit Ezit musket
Of the different shades of natural Colors and it’s spun up there and and Then it comes down by shipped to Aberdeen and then onward down to us and We design it and weave it here so it you Get this natural undyed So this is completely undead these are Completely unnatural completely kind of Colors so they’re just all separated so There’s that much variety yeah yeah it’s Amazing it’s amazing and something very Unique to that breed of sheep yeah What’s one of the other things i love About fine cloth is that ultimately it Is 100 natural yeah right i mean this is A product of the environment and it’s Been done the same way for a long time And there’s been of course technical Innovation innovations But i mean this is You know the luxury it’s the eco Credentials of Tweed wool and tweed cloth Impossible to uh to doubt it’s the one I’m wearing today and it’s a very very Comfortable comfortable gym really yeah I mean again going back to the Performance nature of natural fibers i Mean despite all the technical advances Of Of artificial fibers that have you know I guess we’ve seen over the last 20 or 30 years You still have
You know Just exceptional benefits to natural Wolves the breathability you know it is Warm whenever it’s cold but it breathes And can cool whenever it’s warmer tweeds Have great Crease recovery which is great so that’s A another added bonus yeah how do you See the relevancy of kind of tweed today I mean there’s been a real resurgence of Interest You know what do you see that driven by I think there’s young people picking up On tweet around the world really you’ve Got younger tailors now around the world Everybody thought tailoring would die Out but in fact far from it it’s Stabilized you’ve got young men coming Back into it with these skills and Finding new young people to to wear it’s A it’s expressive and and you’re getting Even the major fashion brands uh Rediscovering the tweet And the the obvious knock on to that is You know further down to the to the high Street or whatever it may be but there Is a wide appreciation of uh what What it is the beauties of the tweet and It’s not an Inexpensive product i mean whenever we Go down into the factory i mean it’s Very easy and clear to see why of all The incredible work that goes into the Creation
Of a simple simple bolt of fabric But it has a longevity and a durability To it yep that is unique yep yep the the Preparation Involved in just Spinning the yarn and twisting the yarns You know before it gets anywhere near a Loom the actual number of you you’ll see For yourself but the the number of Processes involved And do make it a very special product Yeah and a lot of those processes You guys have vertically integrated here I mean so You guys are doing you know some of your Own spinning the yarn for instance we we Have uh i think one of the great Advantages of this business is that We’ve got a great core of customers Worldwide and relatively speaking we Don’t have many customers but then far Closer relations and that’s actually Been good we’ve worked together about 30 Years already you’ve met james who has Joined the business and uh as i Generated away as i’m getting a little Old but it’s good to see that He’s got all the enthusiasm and and Tremendous abilities to take it forward And you know when alan’s still going Strong and ruthless working with you Yeah yeah yeah so It’s it’s a very dynamic business and A fun business actually it’s good fun to
Be here well it’s great to see Businesses like this uh thriving i mean Not just surviving which for a while it Was you know just surviving was i think The goal of many of these businesses You know but now you can really say that These businesses are thriving So the firm certainly continues to honor The tradition and the heritage But there is also innovation at the same Time with these new fabrics and new Designs What we didn’t mention of course is that We actually produce fabrics sometimes Historical in type and that one i’d like To mention called bard And these step slightly aside from The the tweed business This is a two-fold one-fold structure Which the company used to make back in 1911. now remember that we had worsted In our history as an understanding of Worsted chance this is three worsted Threads first of all two tightly twisted Together and a third wrapped around in a Subsequent process In a plane weave so you bend the yarns As much as you possibly can and you get A dry nutty handle if you feel that it’s Quite interesting So in in this particular fabric we Actually use quite a fine wool but it Should feel very soft but actually we Are twisting very high tightly open
Weave i mean it seems like it would be Quite breathable yeah well you yeah That’s exactly that’s the purpose Basically um great travel fabric yes it Feels feels very light the nature of it Is very light but the actual there is Actually considerable weight there so You still get the drape you still get The drape you still get durability and It works very well for a sort of a Bigger guy as well who you know who in a Very lightweight fabric would just crush It you know this this has the durability But it’s cool in comfort But in addition to this sort of thing we Of course produce cashmeres um in sort Of coating weights and jacketing weights And so forth and pure cashmere and That’s always been part of our lives and And you were mentioning innovation we Continue to innovate there’s a whole Family of More technical uh type tweets as well Where we’re still Relying on The traditional uh Creative processes of tweets but then Introducing kevlar or machine washable And things like that which which again Bring it to uh to a more contemporary Customer consumer Yeah well to capture this process again I think has really illuminated the Amount of work that goes into the
Creation of fine fabric and i must say i Have a much more profound respect for The work that goes into this Right now Certainly than i did yesterday having Not seen that process it really is Astounding just how multi-faceted tweet Is From the durability uh the beauty and The performance the sustainability the Authenticity and heritage I mean all those characteristics and Qualities are so well represented In this fabric and i think that you know As we experience this rebound equality That we really talk a lot about on this Channel and the you know kind of the Move away from fast fashion I can’t think of anything that more Perfectly embodies that than the fabric You gentlemen are weaving here at levitt Mill so thank you so much for sharing This with me we’ll take that a couple Yeah thank you very much thank you well Hope you hope you wear it with pride yes I look forward to putting it on and Putting it to good use you know as it Was designed to be used out there you Know in the fields Trying to find some birds um But i think it’d be fun to learn about Where all this begins it’s been good That you’ve been able to meet the people Around the mill you see who’ve actually
Put it together for you and uh just to See it in one piece yeah well i think The the best thing really if we have Someone perfect yeah our designer ruth And she’ll take you through it [Music] Ruth so nice to meet you lovely to meet You thank you so much so uh here we are This is where it all begins it is yes This is the start of the design process Well can you kind of walk me through Um you know how we go from you know Basically the raw you know wool all the Way to These beautiful tweed fabrics yeah Absolutely well first of all uh going From the raw wool into just yarn itself The wool has to be spun So we don’t spin here on site but we Work closely with our spinners and we Have our own recipes there for creating Yarns and to spin the yarn you actually Start with You know A blend of different colors of fibre and Which are then Spun together To create the final color so we have Many many colors and different kinds of Yarn but just you can just see you know From what might look like a brown cone Of yarn from a distance there’s actually Eight to ten individual yarn components In there which it’s like mixing paint
Amazing so these are all the different Colors that kind of go into this yarn Right here yes exactly And so whenever you’re working you know With your spinner to design yarns Are you kind of pulling it together at This level and i mean what does that Process look like so i mean these Recipes actually for these yarns go back 100 years and we’re still creating the Same yarns but each time you’re putting A spin on you’re spinning 650 kilos at a Time And you’re tweaking so you you’re Looking at a submit and saying it needs To be slightly more more orange slightly More green and it is it’s just adding Tiny amounts at a time until you get to The standard recipe wow that’s amazing And then you would receive it Into The mail like this yes we received the Yarn as a single yarn as a cone and at That point depending on the end use Which fabric it’s going into it can be Used Uh as the single chevy yarn like this or With the twisting machines we have we Can then create um secondary yarns which Are twists of two woolen spun yarns Together a wool and spun with a worsted Spun And three ply yarns four ply irons it Really depends on the end use of the
Fabric and that’s that’s something that You guys are doing here which is then Quite unique yes right so it’s like Having it’s like milling your own flower You know you’re able to have more Control over the final product than If you were just receiving it Straight exactly and then twisting you Can Enhance your performance by twisting the Yarns tightly or you can twist them the Opposite direction more softly to create A rounder softer yarn so really you can Take one corner of yarn and make so many Different Products really with it yeah just by Altering the the twist and The combinations that you put together That’s really incredible so then how do You go from this To the actual tweed designs because I mean You know you guys have been doing this In our drawing on an archive that’s over You know 150 years old exactly so The first thing would be to work with The client or if it’s with collection or Whatever we’re designing is to think of The end use of the cloth what weight of Cloth are you looking for what Performance do you want the cloth to Have and then what sort of colour Palette are you looking for and What sort of designs so we’ve got a
Large archive Of designer notebooks Which you see here and what’s really Special about these is they go back to 1900s and really most archives would Have just patterns of Fabric swatches on each page but these Ones have the instructions on how to Make the cloth so you get um The peg plan which is still the exact Same peg plan we would use in the more Modern looms today You get the draft which shows how the Thread should be pulled through the loom Which we’ll have seen down in the middle So everything’s there which you would Not normally get in an archive Yeah it’s amazing i mean you know to Think that this dates back to the early 20th century right late 19th You flip through this and you see You know a lot of really kind of Colorful and complex patterns Whereas you know whenever you look at Photographs from that era you know They’re all black and white you don’t Fully appreciate just how creative they Were at the time that’s it and the Cameras weren’t nearly as good with zoom So you couldn’t see You know the complex designs or the Interesting threads that were running Through it So something like this i mean are you
Drawing on this Today And weaving this you know yes absolutely An inspiration this is an entwining Twill and it’s one of our popular Designs which is used both for apparel But also in our home wear and throws and Accessories and it can be as you can see Here in different scales it can be used In different color ways and things and Can be made more subtle and keep it Really high contrast and just it’s still Very much part of our collection today Really interesting so do you ever go Through this notebook and just kind of Find yourself Really amazed at just how advanced you Know they were designing fabrics this Long ago absolutely and every time you Go through it you pick up on something Else that you’ve missed from before There’s some really interesting Designing So i would imagine that this thing kind Of goes along with the register of then Other estate tweeds that you guys have Been weaving exactly so between the Archive and then our tome of the state Tweets which have you know over 200 Different designs and settings of design In them it’s a real place to start Drawing inspiration from And then you can work On
Recoloring or Changing the scale of designs and things Into the new fabric that you want to Produce Incredible amazing so once you’ve worked Out what sort of design you’re looking For is an over check a plaid of prince Of wales what what sort of setting You’re looking for it’s then a case of Putting the colours in and working out Are you looking for something subtle Something brighter And this is just a selection of the Yarns that we would use for that process So you’ve got a lot of different colors To draw on And so it’s about finding a ground color That works for you and then enhancing it With the chicks so when creating the tv8 Quality which we’re weaving for you um It’s a combination of lambswool Yarn wool and spun twisted with a Worsted spun yarn and this twist means That we can create a tweed design with Still the rich color mixtures But the Handle and weight can be lighter due to The worsted spun element that’s in there Really so how i mean so let’s pull the Bolt right there which we have this Beautiful Tweed And um I mean gorgeous so
So walk me through Kind of a little bit of how we would How you would approach this yes so it’s A case of working out the ground color You’re looking for and in this case the Ground colour is this colour mixture Here Which is this cone Right here Really and then looking in that it’s a Quite it’s got a lot of rich color Mixture but it’s predominantly green And just trying to soften that a little Uh to create the solid ground color We’ve then twisted it with this uh mink Color so this kind of mellows it out a Little bit yeah so when you then twist Them together You end up with this ground color here And then you can see that the brown Element just adds Um Just adds another element of Dimensionality exactly so When you’re using it then in the the Ground of the cloth you’re creating Quite a deep Color yeah and this still has you know Quite a very quite a bit of variation in Color just kind of in this square and That’s just all from the way that this Kind of interacts together once it’s Woven that’s it so you’ve got The color mixture with you know between
Six and eight different components in it Then you’re adding in a seventh Component of the Mink onto that and that’s only one leg Of yarn that goes into the ground we Also are using it alongside A green as well so in the ground you’ve Got these two working together okay so That’s just adding more and more depth Into it and then you enhance it with The over checks on top of that for them It’s using colour mixtures where you’ve Got A depth of blue and A variety of shades coming through so You’re not ending up with just solid Tones yeah so in there you’ve got the Deeper blue yeah look at that So these are Kind of all the different yarns that’s It that are used in weaving this fabric Yes and within each of those yarns There’s a variety of colours as well so It adds up to be quite quite a lot quite Complex i mean one of the things that I’m consistently struck by is just the How multi-faceted and how Multi-dimensional this is right i mean You know it’s a simple Bolt of cloth but the amount of work That goes in to the creation Of something that really you know in the Scope of tweet is probably quite simple Right i mean i’ve seen much more complex
Tweets that you guys have done here And but there’s still so much complexity To it that gives it that rich kind of Visual texture that’s it for being quite A simple plaid design you’re actually Getting a real complex color palette and It just it gives it the vibrant colors That you wouldn’t get by just using a Solid color on its own yeah amazing you Know if you take a Glass and look over there you can see You start to see um reds and blues and Things coming through in the ground that You wouldn’t see by just looking at the Iron itself okay how many different Colors do you think i mean if you were To just guess Go into this i mean if we were to kind Of add them all up at this level Um well In the blues you’re probably talking um Five different uh individual Components in each one so you’re at ten And then in the green there’s between Six and eight and then you’re adding in The worsted colors as well so 20 to 25 If not You’re up there in 25 to 30 just for This one one clock absolutely incredible The next thing to decide is so you’ve Gotten as far as deciding the Color palette you’ve got the um the Layout of the colors the pattern you’re Looking to achieve and the weight of the
Cloth so then once it’s woven you have To decide what sort of finish you want For it so we don’t do the finishing on Site Once it’s woven it’s inspected and Mended by the donors and then it’s sent Just half an hour away for finishing and At that point you can have washed Finishes tumbled finishes and it can We can put pressed finishes or Distressed finishes so really it’s Working with the client to decide yeah What sort of look are you are you going For so This one has quite a traditional pressed Finish And it’s also possible to then at that Point put on water resistant Water repellent Finishes like teflon so there’s there’s Lots of elements that actually go into The cloth after it’s woven as well And Just by changing the temperature that is Washed at or the length of time it’s Washed for it can really greatly affect How the wool reacts yeah and the quality Of water is also really important too Isn’t it yes the scottish water really Helps to bring out the softness of the Oil what is it about the scottish water That makes it so special The water itself is very soft it’s not It’s not as harsh it doesn’t have the
Same length scale and things as further Down in south england and things it’s Much harsher water but it’s much softer In scotland yeah so i guess it takes Does a better job kind of actually Taking The impurities out of the cloth whenever It’s washed yes it just it’s not there’s It’s just very clear water so it’s just It’s it’s not adding any any chemicals Or minerals that aren’t required to be There absolutely magical work this is so Fun uh to be able to see again i’m just Uh in awe of the complexity And the amount of work that just goes Into the creation of fabric at this Level it’s yeah it’s so uh magical to Actually see it all come to life when You know you see it In many shops or window displays and you Don’t actually Fully appreciate how much work goes into Creating the final design one of the Other things i think would be fun to Talk about again is there’s a great Diversity in tweed right so you know Tweed isn’t just like one thing it’s Actually a pretty broad spectrum of kind Of different qualities to the fabric So since you’re the fabric expert here And the designer Could you kind of walk us through Kind of some different examples of of Tweeds and some of the characteristics
Yeah absolutely i’ve got a few examples Of things that we make here give you a Look So here’s a range of fabrics here that Sort of represents the scope of Different weights and qualities that we Make at lover mill it’s in no way Exhaustive as we have qualities For every induce but Just to introduce you to a few of them This one here is a 900 gram traditional Keepers treat wow so it’s for a very Hardy very hardy for definitely for out On the hills um and it’s you know using Um a worsted spun warp with a wool and Sponge v8 weft so um it’s high twist and Tightly woven so it gives it the really Dense Dense characteristics so this would be Something quite durable Very warm very much so yes it is good With the It’s got a warp-faced weave which means That it’s naturally quite water Repellent the water falls off the Surface it’s got the weight behind it And then wool is naturally very warm but Also Very good for breathability as well yeah The thing that’s interesting about wool Is it’s one of the few fibers that Retains its Insulation properties even when wet yes Unlike cotton
Absolutely you know it’s got lots of Natural properties which Are try to be replicated in synthetics And things but wool actually does it Naturally for you amazing So this would be an example of something Very heavy Very durable very hardy yes very Traditional The construction and the quality goes Back for many years and we still have a Customer base for it today But then taking something like that for The hills but trying to make it slightly Lighter weight but still keep the Performance we have our etric tweet okay And that’s taking A wool and sponge v8 yarn and highly Twisting it with a worsted spun yarn to Again enhance the performance but drop The weight and that’s why you get you Get the crisp Handle but also the high performance Yeah i mean it has a hard finish and by High performance you mean Uh are you referencing the weight What do you mean by high performance uh More durability so um you know it’s got 100 000 revs on the martindale abrasion Test so all the cloths have um specks That they have to meet and this goes up To a hundred thousand revs so It would take a lot to to get through a Pair of bricks in this yeah you’ll have
Them for many years If you’ve got them decades yeah and then On top of that we then give this a Teflon finish which just adds more to The performance as well And but then looking for the Tweed the tweed look a quite traditional Look but lighter weight we come down to The crypton weight and that you still See the rich color mixtures and the Vibrant tones but it’s just a bit Lighter weight and that’s just using the Cheviate yarn without enhancing it with The twisted uh Twist okay and is this still coated at The end or it’s not no It can be for me to order but from our Stock service we don’t we don’t put it Um but it can be used for a city Jacketing through to out on the hill Yeah and it’s a stent again quite heavy To the hand yeah so 500 grams um but Good good for jacketing in scotland yeah Okay what about this Beautiful one so this one the the tv8 Weight is Probably our most durable weight uh 430 Grams and as we say it’s the lambswool Twisted with the worsted so the previous Ones would achieve eight so you’ve got a Really crisp handle on these but the Lambswool just gives it the softer Handle and a bit more drape um so Perfect for wearing
In the city But right through to the field but it’d Be more used uh Not for crawling through the heather but For standing standing shootings perfect For sure perfect for people yeah And then again this is uh well not again But this right here is quite Lightweight so there’s a kind of a big Jump in weights or at least in qualities Between these two yes so this is going From The heavier woolen yarns right through And then this is now down to just using The worsted spun yarns so removing the Woolen sponge still 100 wool but just The spinning of the yarn that’s Different here And this is a two-ply Worsted spun which is good for sitting Um and this has got a traditional Sitting finish on it as well quite a Pressed finish And then through to these ones so this One is a three-ply travel suiting um and What’s Good the travel setting element is down To the twisting again so um By Using a three-ply yarn you’ve got two Yarns twisted in one direction and a Third yarn twisted in the opposite Direction and i have them with them Going in different directions they
Actually spring against each other and That’s what it causes the Crease resistance when when you’re Traveling it’s the the spring in the Yarn it holds out the creases and it’s Quite an open weave too isn’t it yes the Plain wave structure yeah And then down to this one here which is Even finer again and this one’s a four Ply travel sitting but It feels lighter weight because it’s Taking an even finer yarn and using four Ply and again the four ply means that There’s a two ply and two ply going one Direction and then By four plying it in another direction You’re just creating the spring and the Cloth to to allow it to create yeah Really secrecy so it’s a lighter i guess It’s a finer yarn that is strengthened Because it’s four ply Yes right and that allows you to weave What is a lighter weight cloth that’s it When you see the yarn as a single you Would never be able to weave that on its Own but by adding the different twisting Elements You end up with a really nice travel System so then what’s the delineation i Mean these are very clearly tweed Right would you consider this a tweed i Mean it’s more suiting right i generally Associate tweed with the more country Kind of textures yeah as uh alan and
Steven were saying the word tweed really Was just a heavy woolen twill cloth And the twill element is still um Carried down throughout the lighter Weight since 100 percent will these ones Are plain weave so they’re going Slightly against against the grain but This could be qualified as a tweed as Well yeah tweets Technically yeah and again this this Example is a gray color mixture but we Create all sorts of uh green tweeds and Green uh twit color twists and things in The ground which give it uh more of a Tweed element this is a beautiful Shooting it just created a beautiful Suit It’s actually matches in nicely with What you’re wearing today not all that Dissimilar right this is the more kind Of city version of the jacket exactly But this is in no way exhaustive Of the qualities that we create we’ve Got a 100 cashmeres and then luxury Fibers like lambswool angora And then the variety of wools in many Many different weights and constructions I don’t know how you keep track of it All It’s good to have a memory sometimes Goodness gracious well thank you so much Ruth i mean this is amazing again look At all these great fabrics just behind Us
And really this entire room that’s so Enjoyable to be able to walk through This with you and thanks for sharing This with me no problem at all it’s Great that you’ve been able to visit and Be inspired by all the tweets yeah Really quite something incredible so Thank you thank you [Music] James Hey it’s so great to meet you kirby Great to meet you well thank you for Having me this has just you know really Been wonderful you’re very welcome and i Guess i i just finished upstairs with Ruth kind of going over where tweed Begins you know the spinning the yarns Uh the way that the tweeds are designed And just the incredible kind of Dimensionality that you guys are able to Create in these fabrics it’s just really Astounding But you know you run the factory so i Thought it’d be fun for you to kind of Walk us through a little bit on how the Tweed is actually woven Yeah so i guess um ruth is obviously Giving you the background on the Spinning of the yarn which is not done On site but they’re very much our yarns And our recipes And so the first stage for us is the Yarns arrive with us and we have Measured length winding and assembly
Winding so the character of many of our Classes are these are twist cloths and So to prepare twist we need to run the Two yarns side by side with each other And then and then pass them onto a Twisting frame where they are twisted Together so we twist for various reasons Whether that be for performance and for Handle of the fabric and also for color Combinations which i’m sure we’ve shown You some of the beautiful combinations We can make yeah and i guess the Twisting is quite unique to love it and One of the things that you guys do In-house that’s quite uncommon and it’s One of the i guess characteristics that Allows you to weave such a broad range Of different fabrics exactly so you see The color mixtures in the various colors You see in the individual yarns the Twist then allows us to add further Color and depth into the tweeds which is What they’re famous for but twist and Having twist capability here means we Can develop our own yarns if you like so Composite yarns so whether that be yarns Which perform um or whether that be Color combination yarns and we can also At that stage bury lycra yarn so we can Create stretch fabrics and we have a Whole host of fabrics which perform as Well in the performance world yeah Interesting so after the the yarn so you Get the yarn kind of created right and
Then what’s next so we have our yarn or We have our our twisted yarns um and we Will bring them together in a color Palette so there’ll be various Individual yarns which go into a cloth The next stage is the yarn is steamed And to set the yarn and then it goes to One of our three warp mills so we have Um three warp mills two of which are for Larger production and we have a smaller Sample warp metal okay and that is where We’re just creating the vertical pattern In our cloth and so our warp yeah and so That is basically a spun or what would You spooled for the entire length of Whatever the run Of I guess whatever the run you’re running Exactly it’s like well so the large Bobbins which you said sort of those are Our warps which are around um and Exactly that we will we will wind on to Whichever machine we’re using the amount Of yarn which is acquired in that warp Incredible waste of incredible links yes So so one machine our most flexible Machine our gyromatic warper and we can Have 24 colours individual colours on There we can get up to 300 and 400 Meters on that machine Our sectional warper where we have to Bank the yarns and bank the pattern in So we’re warping in sections of pattern Okay we can get about a thousand meters
On there so we can really stretch our Legs with larger production runs but We’re also very versatile with the Smaller runs too so we can get a really Fine balance in the business yeah what Is the kind of the difference between a Small run and a large run if you’re Doing a thousand meters for a large run I mean how small of a run can you do So typically our minimum order is two Pieces so 120 meters and that would be Our smallest production run okay um but Where we work in the fashion world and Also in some of our made-to-order work We need to produce sample meters so Sample meters for approval but also Sample meters for sample garments so we Can reduce meterage there if we know That that is going to result in a bulk Order but obviously the smaller You produce the smaller meters you Produce you lose your production Efficiencies and it gets very expensive Yeah of course uh and so you’ve got i Guess the long warps right it’s Spooled or Bundled as you called it um And then you you load that into the Weaving machine right and so you’ve got You know modern you know weaving Machines out there So first of all you have your warp the Next thing is you need to draw your job So we need to draw our job to make sure
Each of the vertical threads are Essentially going to move the correct Way in the pattern when we bring our Weft in so the job the job is warped Then drawn which would have been done by Hand And still can be done by hand but we Weave fabrics with 7000 ends so 7000 Threads need to come through the Appropriate pattern we do that with a Machine now thankfully And we can prepare our drawn jobs whilst Production is ongoing with our warping We bring the two together in the loom And that’s when we bring them into our Weaving machines where we enter the weft So the horizontal pattern yeah well it’s Incredible to watch i mean as it’s kind Of weaving You know explain to me a little bit of Kind of what’s going on right there yeah So i mean it is mesmerizing there’s a Sort of element of therapy about it i Think really maybe it’s just me who gets That from it but um so the weft patterns Are banged in on the left hand side of The loom and each color is is then Entered into the machine into our color Selectors The weft pattern is entered into the Computer by our technicians and the Selectors will offer up the correct Color in the correct order to be brought Into the cloth we’re weaving on carbon
Fiber rapier machines here so it’s a Carbon fiber rapier a little like a Shark’s tooth which you see pick up the Thread pass it across to the point of Central transfer a rapier on the right Hand side will come and pick that thread Up and pull it across the remainder of The cloth and we call that a pick or a Shot the reed then moves Forward into the cloth and beats that Thread into the cloth yeah the reed is What sets the density of the fabric and Also what what builds the fabric so if We’re trying to pick a lot of shots into Sorry put a lot of shots into our fabric To make a dense fabric we’ll really pack Those in Depending on the design of the cloth one Of the things i’m struck by is just how Quickly all this is happening Yeah so i guess Traditionally you might have thought of A shuttle loom and a shuttle going Backwards and forwards quite slowly Yeah exactly and would have been done Event Essentially in the beginning by hand and And i suppose we’re very proud of we’re Still doing a very traditional product But we’re at the cutting edge of our Technology so the carbon fiber raping Machines you see That are being woven on are really Weaving at a great speed so around seven
Times a second that weft thread is Passing through um so We are always a craft pretending to be An industry but we do strive to get There yeah You know just the weaving machines how Technically complex they are is really Mesmerizing as you said um you know how Does that compare to the older machines I mean is it improving the quality of The product or the consistency of it How is it really affected uh the final Product Yeah so we have efficiencies in the Weaving and we have also product quality As well so your check the size of your Check is also critical for continuity on Our stock fabrics that’s all really Really important that we’re replicating The same thing The essence of what we do is still very Much what was done 100 years ago so the Yarns which are coming onto these Machines are still what our forefathers Did for us but we’re just pressing Forward with technological advance yeah So i guess we like to say that the Important bits we’re pushing forward With but we’re keeping the dna of our Products and is remaining the same so The success of the industry When the industry started in hoik was Because they were at the cutting edge of Technology so rather than sitting back
On these old looms Resting too far on that we need to Remain at the cutting edge of our Industry to continue the legacy of Lovett mill and weaving tweed and hoyt Yeah But once the fabric is finished being Woven kind of on the loom right it still Has a long ways to go before it’s Actually finished so you pull that off Right we saw that being done for the Fabric that you guys will for me What’s after that yeah so that’s what we Call doffing so we get off a piece we Take a piece off typically they’re woven About 70 meters any more than that they Get quite heavy And the piece is then in its greasy form So we like to call that’s a greasy cloth It’s unfinished it still has Imperfections from each of the processes We’ve seen And the next stage is that then enters The mending or darning process where we Have four young ladies who pull every Centimeter of the cloth across a table And check for imperfections typically That will be knots and those are found And pulled to the back of the fabric in Our heavier tweeds or those are opened Up and passed and removed from the cloth Yeah that’s incredible that they can Darn you know such fine detail Um
You know this beautiful fabric yeah and Very much in the whole process you see It’s still a very hands-on process so You know although we’re automating Certain procedures it’s still somebody’s Hands touching the cloth at every stage And the quality checks at each stage are Vital and the skill that the ladies have To know what that weave is and how how The lift is and how to put those threads Back in is is amazing in such fine Fabrics yeah what a highly skilled craft I mean really is to see them kind of Going through with such detail it’s hard To even believe that it’s still possible This day and age exactly and and you Know we we always consider that and and As you see there are two young ladies in There so it’s about keeping those skills Alive as well so we have two that have Just come through their modern Apprenticeships and we’re really proud To have a young team still doing still Doing that skill yeah young team indeed Right i mean exactly kind of taking over You know as one of the directors of the Firm you know i think really speaks to The longevity Of this craft i mean you know stretching Back you know almost 200 years now yeah And we’re absolutely aware that the the Weaving and tweed weaving is bigger than Us yeah and you know learning from Steven and the passion that he has and
Alan and and being a young team coming Through and we’re all passionate about That but we’re also very Adamant that the weaving stays here and How can we continue to be successful so It’s gone through the process of being Woven it’s it’s been you know checked And any imperfections have been Corrected Uh and then what what happens next so The first process is that it the fabric Will be washed and what we call a Scouring process and that will be washed At a certain certain temperature for a Certain period of time depending on the Finish that we’re trying to achieve so Yeah we have customers that look for a Natural fabric does not have much finish And in the likes of your fabric we’re Trying to burst the fiber slightly to Get a softer handle but we don’t want to Raise it too much that it won’t still Perform and there are various processes In that finishing special recipes if you Like for each of our qualities in the Finishing process and those are Particularly secret so i don’t want to Give you too much more detail of course I mean but again it’s amazing to me At every single step of this process Which is a pretty long process The opportunities to really Impact the qualities of the cloth right So you know coming into this you know i
Probably was guilty of kind of Classifying tweed as just one thing you Know tweed is tweed you know but in Seeing the work that you guys are doing Here and seeing the different fabrics That you have upstairs and seeing the Books One is really struck at just how broad Of a spectrum tweed can actually be made In Yeah exactly i mean Exactly as you’ve summarized nicely There isn’t really one defining cloth um But i suppose the essence of tweed and The way we make it is that each one is Quality yeah and each of those stages is Quality and it’s premium tweed and That’s what we’re proud to produce yeah So there’s no question that tweed truly Exemplifies quality craftsmanship and Tradition this has been such a pleasure I mean i came into this really not Knowing what to expect i’ve never been In a fabric mill and to see fabric woven Before And i’m really just absolutely blown Away by how much complexity There is behind this and just how Fantastic the product you guys are Making so james thank you so much for Having me into the factory uh the Pleasure has been mine and yeah i can’t Wait to put on my tweed uh shooter Tomorrow thanks very much for coming and
Your first visit you’ve come to the best Thank you [Music] So [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Bye [Music] So [Music] Be [Music] [Music] [Music] Do [Music] [Music] The house and the grounds were Originally passed to the the spence Family in the 1300s a motto in a Restaurant that we use locally sourced Ingredients We produce as much as we can i think i See some real deer here and then we saw Some deer earlier on the fields it’s Amazing all the wildlife kind of in and Around the property yeah i think i could Live like this yeah [Music] You
