My Christmas kicks have arrived

Have I mentioned my bride despises my Albert slippers? She finds them effeminate, and nothing I can or do say is likely to change her mind. Over time she has become less vocal about it, unless or until another pair arrives. My Christmas present to myself arrived yesterday which once again opened the floodgates.

I was unsure how they would turn out. Of course, I had a photo of the swatch recommended by Shaun and Mike of Broadlands Slippers, but heaven only knows where the colors my monitor shows and reality coincide.

I love them, out of the box they just felt perfect. Today, they are my favorite pair, although that hasn't kept me from thinking about my next. With an 10 week lag from inspiration to delivery, mayhaps something for spring would be in order. Linen? Available for boys and girls, tell 'em I said hi.

Toad

My Christmas Present

Do you buy yourself presents? When circumstances permit, I do. Last Christmas I ordered a pair of slippers from Broadland Slippers.

They were so comfy, I asked them to make something special for my birthday. Sean and Mike mentioned that they had a piece of tartan available. I agreed before they they could change their minds.

While memorizing every photograph in Fiona Dreesmann's The Gentleman's Slipper I had the itch to add to my collection. I had something off the shelf in mind but nothing I felt strongly about. The boy's recommended this tartan with navy lining instead.


How could Toad, Laird of Dunnans Castle refuse tartan?

Toad

Toad

Create your own Tartan

I received an email from Scot web store.com this afternoon announcing their new product. A create your own tartan service. I have no connection with them except as a happy customer. The pound is cheap. This might be fun.

I quote from their email:

"Our Biggest News for Years

Today we're taking the wraps off our latest, and maybe greatest, feature. And you, our valued members, are invited to be the very first to use this free facility. We think it may change the world of tartan forever. Read on...

And to celebrate, we're giving our best-ever member offers on tartan! For a short time only you'll get deep deep discounts on tartan fabrics, swatches, oddment bags, and superb tartan products. These deals will never be repeated.



Design your own kilts, skirts, fabrics...

Now you can now design your own tartan kilts, skirts, fabrics, or any other tartan product - exactly as you like. It's easy, fun, affordable, and infinitely creative. Design your own family, business, or club plaid, without the traditional costs of expert services.

Read all about this exciting new development below. Then try it for yourself. And do please take a moment to tell us what you think...



A tiny catch - it's Invitation Only...

But don't worry, you're invited! Just ask for a personal invitation...

Because this is so ground-breaking, we want to restrict access for the initial launch. We'd prefer our existing customers and friends to road-test the facility before we admit the public at large. So we have an initial batch of 500 invitations available, on a first-come-first-served basis. (Others will be added to a Waiting List.)

And once you're in, you can invite a few of your own friends in turn. Five, in fact. This way we know it's going to be mostly tartan lovers who use the service in its early stages.



Load any existing Tartan

If you've never designed a tartan before (and let's face it, this probably describes most of us!) the easiest way to start is by playing around with ones you already know. We make this easy.

You can search our Gallery for any tartan already recorded with the Scottish Tartans Authority. Or you can load designs other users have created and chosen to share (optional).



Edit or design from scratch

The heart of our new facility is a superbly easy-to-use interface to let you design your own tartan patterns. If you've seen any other system like this before, think again! No technical knowledge is required. It's easy-peasy, but still a very powerful, tool.

Click on colours, choosing from several different palettes. These include a Simple set, a Pro set, and another set based on our own weaver's threads, with photographs of actual cones of yarn!

Once you've picked your colours, just drag the sliders that have appeared. It's that easy. And as you do so, your plaid will appear magically before your eyes. It all happens instantly on screen (through technical wizardry that's so clever we've patented it!).



Save and share your creations

You can save your tartan designs to come back t o whenever you're logged into our site. Not only that, but if they are 'Finalised' (which means no more editing!) you'll also find them appearing as an additional purchasing option for relevant products, such as kilts or skirts, in our main web site.

You can also opt to share your designs in the online Gallery, just by ticking a box. This means other users can also comment on them, design variations of them (which are fully tracked), and even buy fabrics in your designs. And if anyone does so, you'll earn a 10% Royalty in Scotweb Points!


And, of course, the best bit is...

You can buy fabrics, and order custom-made kilts, skirts, household goods, ties, scarves, tartan accessories, cuddly toys, and dozen of other products in any tartan you design!

We can weave your fabric in a short length (only a little longer than a single traditional kilt) in a medium or heavy weight wool, with a proper kilting selvedge. And we can also produce light weight wool, polyviscose, polycottons, and various other fabrics at incredibly affordable prices.

We also offer massive discounts for bulk orders. And for professional or corporate designs, we can also provide a fully tailored design, review, and liaison service including special dying of yarns in your precise colour specifications, and expert help from a world-leading authority"

Toad

The Winner

Thank you to all who played, but a winner has been selected.

It has been fairly cool lately in Mayberry, so earlier in the week I designated today as the day I would move many of my fall jackets from storage to my closet. Naturally, today was unseasonably hot, humid and overcast all day. We are promised an inch or two of rain this evening and another 3 or 4 inches tomorrow as Ike screams 800 miles north.

While moving the jackets I came across 4 yards of the fabric shown above. It is not tweed, but lambswool. I remember being somewhat disappointed when it arrived last winter, as I felt that it was dangerously close to the fabric I used in last years jacket.


This is last years coat. It is a 13 oz. "Best of Both" tweed, which I acquired through the limited edition selection through The London Lounge. I absolutely adore this coat, and became very angry with myself towards the end of the season as it, through no fault of the tailor, did not fit as well as it did earlier. I have since rectified that, for now.

So weather permitting, and if the creek don't rise, Monday I'm off, probably to copy last years coat.

However, it may open up the possibility of round two.

In the back of my mind, I am mulling over, in honor of our Scottish family member, the idea of a double breasted black watch tartan jacket for the holidays. I'm having trouble sourcing the fabric, so if you have any strong ideas one way or the other about the jacket, or have a good source for wool tartan fabric please let me know.

Toad