Tweed too light for suit?

[Creeping Past]

I've been looking at John Hardy tweeds and thinking about getting a suit made from 8166. But is 7/8 oz too lightweight? It would get a lot of wear throughout the year.

Is there a similar pattern that's heavier, which would be okay for taking out walking?

Apologies if this has been threaded previously.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I always like to side on the heavier weights because of wear and drape.

If you want it to look like tweed and wear like tweed then i'd say go heavier.

 

[Creeping Past]

I always like to side on the heavier weights because of wear and drape.

If you want it to look like tweed and wear like tweed then i'd say go heavier.

Thanks, Matt. Now to check availability within my price range...

 

[BellyTank]

Creeping Past,
have you looked at Andrew Elliot, in Selkirk?

For anyone who's interested, then

They have cloths and colours to the Harris you pointed to.
Prices are comparable and cloth width is 150cm.
Not Royal Warranted Harris, though.
They do a 50% discount for trade.

I would say you'd want something 10oz, or fatter,around 350g(10oz) and up.

Elliots are a weavers and do some heavy cloths and some really heavy
"Keeper's Tweed"- 725g/m- about 21.5oz!!!

And-

Cheviot in 370g about 11oz
Shetland Plains in 420g/m- about 12.5oz
Donegal 500g about 15oz
...and some lighter qualities- some of the lightweights are made for Womens' suitings, I believe- hence the weave patterns and colours.

Some nice "plains" in the Shetlands and Cheviots.
The Keepers are a little TOO Country for me.

Maybe you've seen Elliots before.
I had some samples from them in the Donegal and Dreamtouch houndstooth-
the Dreamtouch is a little too light, I fear- 3000gsm, around 9oz.

Get some advise from them and some swatches and see what you think-
I thought the Donegal was a bit loose but then I'm no expert.



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[Creeping Past]

have you looked at Andrew Elliot, in Selkirk?

Yes. I found his site while looking at various Donegal tweeds ... and promptly lost the bookmark/link, the loss of which has been bugging me. I got some Donegal samples from John Molloy in Ireland, 435 gms/15 oz, and they look good.

Now back to the Elliot place...

Were you considering commissioning a BT-specific fabric? Mmm, khaki tweed...

 

[BellyTank]

Anything, as long as it's Khaki.


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[Micawber]

A lot depends on where you are going to wear the suit and what for? I much prefer heavier tweeds but predominantly have mine for country wear / country sports pursuits.

I have recently had a hunt coat made up for me in a traditional 80% wool / 20% cotton mix 700+g Keepers Tweed ...but there again I am both country and an ex 'keeper.

 

[Creeping Past]

Nice looking jacket. Is this for foot or horseback? How about trousers? Same fabric?

A lot depends on where you are going to wear the suit and what for?

For hillwalking, mainly ... although with the final cost in mind my view is that I'll wear it anywhere I like! The idea is to get a muted tweed without too much of a pattern -- something that'll blend in when outdoors and won't look like I'm trying to wear tweed (no windowpane checks) when in town.

It'd be good to have a 15-16oz fabric, lined in cotton ventile maybe, between me and a chilly wind or a downpour.

 

[jgilbert]

For some reason I thought tweeds were meant to be heavy as they were normally worn on cold damp days.

Having said that why would you want light weight tweed?

 

[BellyTank]

Huh..?
Huh..!


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[Will]

The weight appears light because these are half-width fabrics woven on small looms. For the real weight, double the stated number (unfortunately, the same is also true of the price per meter). In other words, the Hardy Harris tweeds are 15 ounces.

Generally, anything less than 14 ounces is a worsted posing as a tweed. The combination of shetland or cheviot wool and the stitching used makes it difficult to weave real tweed with less weight than that. To the best of my knowledge, only Breanish offers a version and they developed their own weave.

 

[BellyTank]

Aha,
Good point.

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