Tweed

Tweed Suit Fabric: woollen, not worsted

Tweed’s character comes from how the yarn is spun.

In worsted spinning the fibres are combed parallel, producing smooth, strong yarn and a cloth with a clear finish. Tweed uses woollen spinning, where the fibres are carded and lie in every direction.

That disorder traps a great deal of air, which is why tweed is warm out of proportion to its weight. It also produces the fuzzy, matte, slightly hairy surface that makes tweed unmistakable, and it means the yarn is weaker, so tweed is woven heavier to compensate.

The classic types

Harris Tweed is a legally protected designation. To carry the Orb mark it must be made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides and handwoven by islanders in their own homes. It is a standard of origin and process, not a pattern.

Donegal is characterised by coloured neps, small flecks of contrasting fibre spun into the yarn, giving a speckled appearance.

Shetland is softer and lighter than Harris, from Shetland sheep wool, and is a good deal more comfortable for a jacket.

Cheviot is firm and hard-wearing with a distinct crispness.

Saxony is the softest and finest of the tweeds, closer to flannel in hand.

Patterns

Tweed carries pattern well because the woollen yarn holds colour in a mottled, complex way.

Herringbone is the broken-chevron weave, the most common and the most versatile.

Barleycorn produces a fine granular texture from a small repeating figure.

Houndstooth is the broken check, striking at large scale and subtle at small.

Glen check and gun club are larger, more assertive checks with country associations.

In this climate

Be honest about the destination.

A tweed jacket in Chiang Mai is an uncomfortable garment. The very property that makes it good, trapped air, is exactly wrong for the tropics.

Where it does make sense is commissioning here for somewhere else. A hand-finished tweed sport coat represents a large amount of labour, and that labour costs considerably less here than in the countries where tweed is worn.

If you want the visual character of tweed in a wearable weight for this climate, an open-weave hopsack or a lighter wool check gives you the texture without the insulation. See the fabric guide.