From croft to couture

A long tradition of dyeing and weaving wool in the Outer Hebrides helped establish the fabric we know as tweed, now beloved by fashion houses, designers and royalty, says Celia Rufey

- Celia Rufey

Sheep drove the economy of England for two hundred years from the 13th century, with its trade in wool. Scotland followed more slowly and only for home consumption until the end of the 18th century, while in the islands of the Outer Hebrides, challenged by climate, land clearance and evictions, crofters continued a craft tradition of dyeing wool before spinning it, and weaving it in their homes. Twill weaves in which weft threads cross over warp threads in steps, giving a diagonal emphasis to the cloth were well known to weavers in preindustrial days. When worked in wool, twill's ability to conjure a robust cloth for personal insulation against cold, wind and rain gave it particular prominence in the islands of Lewis, Harris, Uist and Barra. They gave this thick weave the Gaelic name, Clò Mòr, meaning The Big Cloth. Its character came to sum up the weave we call tweed.