All About Tweed Fabric

Tweed fabric is made from coarse, woven wool, and may or may not use a twill, or diagonal, weave. Herringbone is a popular tweed fabric with a twill pattern in which the diagonal slant of the weave alternates. Tweed fabrics may also make use of threads of different colors to create an attractive "heather" effect.

Originating in Scotland, Tweed is believed to have gotten its name from the Tweed River, which runs through the Scottish Borders, once a textile center. The name tweed is also related to twill - or tweel in Scots - so the exact history of the term is unclear.

Traditionally tweed was hand woven and used local natural dyes in the hand dying process. Some of the traditional dyes used for luxury tweeds are believed to have come from sources such as moss, lichens, and blackberries.

Tweed is a flexible and comfortable fabric due to its fairly loose weave. Due to the weather resistance and durability of tweed fabric, it is very popular for informal outerwear.

This popular fabric can be seen in luggage, tennis shoes, jackets and sweaters. Though the majority of tweed fabric is made of wool, you can also find silk tweed and a blend of wool and silk tweed. The traditional wool tweeds tend to be heavier than the silk tweeds and wool/silk blends. This makes the wool/silk blends and especially the silk tweeds more suitable for light jackets and sweaters, and particularly popular in women's outerwear.