Fabric Friday - Shetland tweed: reweaves

A few weeks again on Fabric Friday I showed you Matt Smith’s screen-worn Shetland tweed.

It’s a very popular fabric supplied by W Bills, and the one and only sixty metre bolt soon sold out.

So it wasn’t long before it was being rewoven to keep up with demand.

However, being a number of years since it was original made, matching the yarns wasn’t as easy as it sounds second time around.

WEAVE 2

This was the first time the tweed was rewoven.

The design is created from six different colours of yarn, and the weave was identical to the original, although one of the colours was not the best match.

There is a sparsely used shade of green yarn woven into the brown background. The original thread was not available, so a slightly darker version had to be substituted.

The original version of the Shetland Tweed is shown either on the left or top in each of these photos, to give a side-by-side comparison.

This give the fabric an overall darker and more green shade. You can particularly see the green yarn in the extreme close-up below.

One bolt of sixty metres was woven of the Shetland Tweed in this form.

The finish of the fabric was very cut compared to the original, which had a softer and slightly fluffier surface.

WEAVE 3

Despite giving feedback about the colour, the same six yarns were used for the next weaving, giving the fabric the same greenish blush.

Again the finish is a lot more cut than the screen-worn.

But the thing that is most annoying is the mismatch of spacing on the horizontal orange stripes.

As you can see, if they are aligned at the top, within five repeats its already a good half-inch out.

Two bolts of sixty metres each was woven of the Shetland Tweed in this form.

These reweaves shows that even if the SAME waver, using the SAME looms can’t always precisely match their original work.
That said, there is no other option to get this exclusive designs, so it is what it is.

Fabric Friday - Shetland tweed

This week on Fabric Friday, I turn my attentions to the Shetland tweed used to make the jacket first seen in A Christmas Carol.

The jacket was a smarter, more tailored cut compared to the Harris tweed and Donegal versions seen in series five.

The elbow patches were dropped - though this seems to have been an oversight since they reappear in the very next episode.

The tweed used came from W Bills and has been likened to a plaid, though it is not truly defined as such.

The fabric has a distinct orientation, with bold vertical stripes of darker brown mixed with a lighter beige colour.

These images are directly scanned from fabric that was part of the bolt that was cut to make Matt’s screen-worn jackets. They have then been colour-matched back to the material to give the best visual representation of the fabric.

The only discernible pattern repeat horizontally are some narrow orange stripes, which are at irregular spacings, alternating between 35mm and 45mm.

This can make the fabric a bit awkward to use when pattern matching, as the true pattern repeat is effectively 75mm.

Woven in 100% pure Scottish wool to a full width of 54 inches wide, it comes from the island of Shetland off the coats of Scotland.

W Bill - The End Of Time

I can announce some very sad news today.

W Bills, the supplier of tweeds for Matt Smith’s costumes, has been sold and is changing hands. It’s future is currently uncertain.

W Bill has provided cloth for a number of Matt’s costumes, from the series five Donegal tweed; to the series six Shetland Tweed; and finally the gorgeous Cashmere frock coat from series seven.

All of these began their lives as bolts of anonymous cloth on these shelves in W Bills basement showroom a couple of streets from London’s Savile Row.

The longstanding stalwart of their showroom, Ray Hammett - who has worked for the company since 1947, when he joined aged just 17 - has retired, although reluctantly.

From what I gather large amounts of stock are in the process of being transferred to the new owner’s premises in Exeter, leaving a skeleton range of short lengths.

It is unclear if fabrics exclusively woven for W Bills will be repeated or requested by the new owners.

This means the Shetland Tweed used for Matt’s series six jacket could well be discontinued.

If it is picked up by the new owners, there could be a gap in production while they review and replenish stock.

Luckily I found out about this change of hands shortly before it happened and was able to secure the entire remaining stock of Shetland Tweed, just over thirty metres.

This means I can make a few jackets yet, or if anyone wants to buy the fabric by the metre, they can drop me a line and I can give you details.

If you’ve been toying with the idea of getting a jacket made in the original fabric - NOW is your possible last chance!

Tweedaggon

I’ve had a very busy week - been having a very busy couple of months come to that.
October has been manic for US clients wanting something for Halloween, and now I have a rush for the 50th Official Celebration - all on top of my usual bits and pieces I do.

It’s funny sometimes how I don’t get asked to make a particular garment for ages, then I get a run of orders and find myself under a mountain of cloth.

This month is seems to be tweed!

If you’re waiting on a jacket from me - it’s likely yours is one of those shown above!

A Touch Of Shetland Tweed

So, I’m mindlessly watching ITV3 this week, just to unwind after a long day’s tailoring, and guess what I spotted?

In one of the seemingly endless re-runs of David Jason in A Touch Of Frost, I sat up to attention when I noticed the trilby hat he was wearing was made from none other than the Matt Smith Shetland Tweed!

Now it is fractionally different, in that it has a single orange vertical stripe in the pattern – but otherwise its spot on!

The episode was Private Lives, and dated from 1999. It also had Maureen O’Brien (Vicky from the William Hartnell era) in a small role.

I wonder if this is a slightly early version of the weave? I’ll have to ask next time I’m at W Bill.

Season Six Tweed jacket –making the sleeves

If you have been following what I have been up to recently, you will have seen the Prototype Shetland Tweed jacket I made, followed by a couple of proper jackets.
Now I have nailed what I need to do, I thought I’d share a few bit of making them.

So, next thing I need to sort out are the sleeves.

To make sure I always cut the fabric in just the right place, I have marked the edges with a highlighting pen to show the positioning of the stripes.

This is marked at the cuffs (see left) and at the sleeve-head (see above, left), where I also mark the horizontal stripes that need to align across to the body.

Now I have cut the fabric, I need to prepare it before stitching. To keep the cuff edges crisp, I have interfaced a two-inch strip along the cuff fold (see left, top).

I then chalk the stitch-line for the cuff mitre.

The cuff is then folded diagonally from the corner point, and I stitch along the chalk-line. I then trim to a standard seam allowance, and press the cuff flat, giving me a nice simple single seam line from the corner of the cuff vent.

I then sew the two parts of the sleeve together along the back seam.

While I have the sleeve in a flat form, I can easily set the three buttonholes for the cuff vent.

Again, to make things as easy for myself as possible, I am going to sew the elbow patches in place while the sleeve is still in a single flat form.

The patches are real leather and have pre-pierced sewing holes around the edges.

These have to be hand-sewn in place and I use a strong top-stitch thread, sewing in a blanket stitch around the patch.

It is SO much easier working the patch while the sleeve is still flat.

Once the patches are done I can finish the sleeves off by sewing the front seam.

They are then ready for setting.

Season Six Tweed jacket –making the body

If you have been following what I have been up to recently, you will have seen the Prototype Shetland Tweed Jacket I made, followed by a couple of proper jackets.
All have been made using the THE original Shetland Tweed from which Matt’s jackets were cut (see left).

Well now I have nailed what I need to do, I thought I’d share a few bit of making them.

First up I need to cut and make the body of the jacket.
The pattern was based closely on my basic Edwardian Lounge Jacket, which I original cut to make my Tennant Suit.

I have had to distinctly up my game for this jacket.
There is no room for error or allowance for adjustment later, so I have to be a lot more disciplined when making it.

Why you ask? Well, the fabric has a pattern to it, sure, but it has an annoying irregular pattern repeat.

There is a horizontal orange stripe which is spaced 35mm apart, then 40mm apart, then 35mm apart again. This makes the true vertical pattern repeat some 75mm.

As an FYI, form what I have seen the Abby Shot rewoven fabric has missed this subtly completely, and has made the spacing equal between all their orange stripes.

Okay, so we got that. But there is a further complication: the horizontal stripe needs to match across from the body to the sleeve-head. This means I have to cut the fabric to within a few millimetres tolerance, limiting me to where I can position them on the fabric.

Season Six Tweed jacket –finished version

After making a prototype a while back, I have now made a couple of proper Shetland Tweed jackets, and I thought you might like to see how they have come out.

I had lots of fun getting the pattern to fall right, especially around the breast pocket welt. It has to be cut so the pattern matches and so that it disappears into the chest.

Notice also how the horizontal orange stripes align from the chest to the sleeve.

I’m also quite proud of the buttoned cuffs, which I tailor as fully functional vents.

This took a bit of work to design the pattern, and some understanding on how to make it work. The finished result is superbly screen-accurate.

I also found a great supplier for the correct coloured leather elbow patches, all of which have to be meticulously hand-sewn in place.

Since I am using the original W Bill Shetland Tweed, I am authorised to use their label inside the jacket, which I have proudly put on show, with my own label subtly inside the pocket.

Prototype Shetland Tweed jacket FOR SALE

This jacket is now SOLD!

I have my Prototype Season Six Shetland Tweed jacket available for SALE.

Made from THE Shetland Tweed cut to make Matt Smith’s current jacket.
Screen-accurate buttons and elbow patches, lining screen-accurate as well.

I did cut the pattern based on my Suit Jacket Block, but the thickness of the fabric made it come up a bit smaller than I had planned!

The sizing is as follow:

Chest 37 to 38 inches

Sleeve length 26 inches

Overall length 31 inches

Across shoulders 18 inches

If you missed out on this jacket
and would like to commission
a made-to-measure one,
email me at tennantcoat@me.com.

Season Six Tweed jacket –A trio of Tweeds!

I’ve been working very hard the past few weeks, and here is the results of my labours!

Back in May I made a Prototype Tweed Jacket using the screen-used Shetland Tweed Fabric.

Since then I have radically revised my pattern; solved some issues I had with construction; and now made a couple of new jackets which I am pretty happy with.

I’ll post some detail pictures of them soon, along with some background as to how I cut and made my jacket.

Matt’s been framed!

I’ve been spending quite a bit of my time recently making Tweed Jacket!

As a result I have been back and forth to W Bill in London a few times now, and have gotten to know Ray Hammett, who I deal with a lot, quite well.

A few times now we have chewed the grass over the state of the fabric industry and he has told me of the problems getting good quality wools to weave these prestige fabrics from.

During our chats Ray did ask me to email him a couple of photos of Matt Smith wearing the jackets made from the fabrics he sells. So I picked out a couple of good images, and especially one of Matt wearing the Shetland Tweed Series Six jacket (see right).

After sending the images over, I thought I could go one better, especially since Ray had been so helpful to me over the past few weeks.
So I got him a nice framed version of the picture and presented it to him on me last trip to buy some fabric (see below). Ray was thrilled. He doesn’t often get such attention for a length of tweed!

If you look closely in the photo, you can spy THE roll of fabric from which Matt’s jacket was cut . . .

Season Six Tweed jacket –Prototype jacket

I said last week I wasn’t gonna wait around to make myself a Season Six tweed jacket – and I meant it!

Over the past six days I have drafted my pattern; cut my cloth; sourced the perfect elbow patches, buttons (see right) and lining; and hand-tailoered an initial prototype jacket.

Here it is – do let me know what you think!

I am very happy with the elbow patches I have sourced – they really are a good quality and just the right colour.

When I took a look at the buttons used for the jacket I couldn’t believe my eyes! They are the same buttons that had been used a few years ago on the Jackson Lake frock coat in The Next Doctor. I had sourced them a while back, so already had a supply in -hand.

The good news keeps coming

If you follow the latest cosplay updates on the various Doctor Who forums, you’ll know what this past week saw the breaking of some great news for Eleven Doctor fans.

After identifying the Series Six Trousers exclusively on this blog, a fellow dedicated fan in Los Angeles has tracked down the exact tweed used for the Series Six jacket!

And just to confirm it is the right one, he found it from the fabric broker who supplied it to the Doctor Who costume department! No doubt there then!!

I has been tipped off about it a little while back, but kept the embargo on it until news was made public.

The supplier is W Bill in central London, and I recently went to visit their basement warehouse to see it for myself and get some of the precious fabric.

Currently located on New Burlington Street, just off Regent Street, the company was formed by William Bill in 1846 supplying haberdashery for funeral clothing. After moving to Bond Street, they expanded their range and became a specialist tweed stockist selling all round the world.
I met with Ray Hammett, who has been working there since 1946.

He had prepared for my visit by digging out the bolts of Doctor Who tweed: the Donegal used for Series Five and the Shetland Tweed that is seen in Series Six.

It’s always a great buzz to see the fabric you have been seeking right there in front of you.
The price is fixed – nearly GB£60 a metre – since it cannot be sold cheaper than the retail price charged by the stockist it is sold to, so after biting the bullet I bought enough to make myself and a couple of friends a Series Six tweed jacket.

Check back real soon, cos I don’t intend to hang around on this one!