Breanish Tweed

The Western Isles is world famous for its weaving heritage. In the village of Adabrock, where my family is from,  every second home had a loom when I was growing up. In my father's village of Cross there were twenty looms, and the village is not a mile long. We weave our cloth on a single width Hattersley loom, the traditional loom of the islands. This photograph shows the mechanism which the weaver uses to control the amount of shots in the warp.

The company was founded almost thirty years ago by Ian Sutherland, who was a weaver with a difference. He began experimenting with different yarns and methods to create the lightweight Breanish Tweed. Here is a photograph of Ian at the loom.

We also warp the tweed by hand, in preparation for going into the loom.  Here is a photo of my mother warping a tweed.

Our two weavers (my father being one of them), have been weaving for forty years apiece. Tradition is important to us, and it makes us happy that the weaving tradition of the islands is continued. We are all native Gaelic speakers, and are proud of our island's association with weaving. 

Some finished Breanish Tweed. 

Please feel free to visit us if you are ever on the island, or get in touch if you are interested in finding out more about Breanish Tweed.

 Le dùrachdan,

Iain Finlay Macleod.