The Wooler Shepherd's Plaid.

This plaid was the first I wove that was not made for a specific person. I was taking part in a textile exhibition in Wooler, Northumberland and, as the town is next to the Cheviot Hills where, traditionally, the Shepherd's plaid would have been worn, I couldn't miss the opportunity to weave such a 'local' cloth.

The plaid was based on previous fabrics of its type, woven in Northumbrian Tartan in natural coloured wool in a 2/2 twill structure. It was woven to four metres to allow for shrinkage to reduce the length to just over three metres and it featured the broad stripes around its four edges.

The plaid was shown in the gallery window as part of a Northumbrian themed display to coincide with the delivery of the copper whisky stills to the nearby Ad Gefrin Distillery ( https://adgefrin.co.uk/ ); the prominence of the plaid obviously had an effect because it quickly sold to a local man who can be seen modelling it in the photos.