A new twist on tartan

Tartan mosaic artist

It was just a bag of fabric scraps two years ago. A mishmash of colours, weaves and designs that had been picked up in charity shops. Moira Dalgetty would often think of that tartan fabric tucked away in her flat in Rothesay on the island of Bute. Its contents could be turned into cushions, or quilts, she would tell herself. One day, she would get round to doing something with it.

But Dalgetty never did get round to turning the tartan into cushions. Instead this Russian and Greek-speaking former CBS news employee, whose art hangs in the Scottish Government's cabinet room, thought of something better to do with it. Something more unusual.

She was inspired by a dream. "I saw myself weaving lots of different tartans into a multicoloured mosaic," says Dalgetty. "I laid all my tartan out in front of me and I thought: what does tartan mean to me as a Scot?"

It's a big question. What does tartan mean? History, heritage, family and clans, for sure. But what about shortbread tins and See You, Jimmy hats? It's part of that, too.

For Dalgetty, tartan meant connections. She says, "I thought: Spiros [Papadakis, her partner] is Greek, my ex-husband is English, I have friends that are Russian, Irish and Greek, my godson is Vietnamese and my brother-in-law is Canadian and what do they all have? A wee bit of tartan, whether it's a scarf or a fridge magnet. So I thought: that's what connects everyone - tartan. So I thought: I'm going to jumble it all up."

Dalgetty did better than that. She decided to cut, weave and hand-stitch her scraps of tartan together to create a clashing Caledonian mosaic. The results were impressive.

"Isabel Strong used to be provost on Bute and I showed her," says Dalgetty. "She nearly fell off the couch. She said: 'This must go to the First Minister,' and I said, 'What? Why?'"

One of Dalgetty's mosaics did go to Alex Salmond, though, who hung it on the wall. She has since made one as an official gift for the outgoing Chinese consul general Li and has been commissioned to produce a number of surname-inspired tartan mosaics. The tartan, once picked up from charity shops, now comes from Selkirk-based textile company Lochcarron of Scotland. "The reaction to it has been quite extraordinary," says Dalgetty, who seems genuinely surprised.

Her love of tartan started as a child, when she was taken to Highland dancing classes. "I would see all these amazing tartans and these dancers and pipe bands, and I always wanted to get a bright MacLeod waistcoat and an Anderson skirt - I always wanted to mix them up but I never found a way until now."

Dalgetty, who was made a governor of the Scottish Tartans Authority in May, has traded her life in the newsroom for one surrounded by tartan. It's a decision she doesn't regret. "I sit at my window in my comfies, I have the best view in the world, I have a packet of digestives, I sew and then if I get fed up with it I get on my bicycle and go to the beach and have a walk. Then I come back and do it all over again."

tartanconnections.com

Judy R Clark

Fashion designer

Vivienne Westwood catwalk, 1993. Naomi Campbell is strutting her stuff down the runway in sky-high platform shoes when suddenly, unexpectedly, she wobbles, stumbles and falls to the ground. At least that's what I remember, those images of Campbell sprawled on the catwalk in front of hundreds of photographers. Most people probably don't recall what she was wearing. It was tartan. A green and red checked kilt.

It wasn't the first time Scotland's most famous fabric would take a turn on the catwalks. Alexander McQueen, Dolce & Gabbana and French label Celine have all featured it; the colourful fabric is a constant source of inspiration.

"I think tartan is a timeless cloth which can be interpreted in a modern fashion," says Edinburgh designer Judy R Clark. "It has a sense of heritage, classicism and longevity."

Clark, who studied at Galashiels and interned at Alexander McQueen (where she worked on Sarah Jessica Parker's dress for the British premiere of Sex And The City: The Movie), is renowned for her use of Scottish fabrics. From Harris Tweed to Scottish lace, her eponymous clothing label demonstrates Clark's love affair with Scotland.

"A lot of my designs are about looking back in time and history," explains Clark, who has created a number of garments for Scots singer Emeli Sande.

"I used to use Nepali silks because of the colours but now it's much more Scottish fabrics. Because of the relationship I have with the mills I can go and see exactly what's happening and make things bespoke."

Clark's love of Scottish-made cloth means tartan was a natural choice. "The sense of drama even the smallest tartan detailing could add to a garment is unique," she adds. Indeed, one of Clark's most striking creations is a tailored black coat with two panels of mismatching vibrant red tartan down the back.

"I started using tartan when I launched my first collection in 2008-2009," she says.

Clark believes tartan has a universal appeal. It's certainly a fabric that resonates with her Scottish-inspired work. "The cloth mixes so well with the type of fabrics I use: Scottish lace, tartans, pheasant feathers," she says. "It is a fabric that naturally ended up in my colour palettes."

Clark is in the process of putting together her first ready-to-wear collection to launch this autumn. "Tartans feature throughout," says Clark. "The collection has a slightly androgynous feel. The plaid elements symbolise a fierce independence and heroism of the Highland warrior.

"Every time I wear the collection I feel powerful and elegant. The tartan adds a sense of drama."

Drama, power and heroism. It's only a fabric, but tartan can say all of that.

judyrclark.com

Jilli Blackwood

Textile designer and artist

A rainbow of fabric covers the floor in Jilli Blackwood's Glasgow flat. Pink and blue tartans, textured checks and hand-printed material are scattered all around. The Glasgow School of Art-trained textile designer is reminiscing about her early work, from her graduate year of 1986, which until minutes ago had been tucked away in drawers. "I like to hand-dye my own colours - it's a technique I learned at art school," says Blackwood, whose textile-based work has hung in galleries around the world, including a piece in the National Museum of Scotland.

Flicking through the swatches, one catches her eye. "There's one here with tartan in it," she says , picking out a colourful square with tartan in the background. It was created more than 20 years ago, when Blackwood was establishing herself as a textile designer, though looking at its expertly woven pattern and carefully chosen colour palette you wouldn't know it.

That little square of fabric isn't the only example of tartan in Blackwood's archive. Indeed, some of the designer's most high-profile work - not least the Scottish athletes' tartan parade outfits designed for the 2014 Commonwealth Games - has been based on the national cloth. Among the acres of textiles in Blackwood's home, including scarves in a paintbox of colours, patterned lampshades and pieces of textile wall art, there are numerous tartans. Pink tartans, textured tartans, embellished tartans, all inspired by the traditional check and reworked by Blackwood.

A rail of kilts, in her own tartans, contains one of her most high-profile creations: the Millennium Kilt, woven from pink, green and mustard threads. "I created it in 1999," says Blackwood, who first displayed the garment at The McManus Gallery in Dundee. "It was later exhibited in the Men In Skirts exhibition at the V&A along with [designs by] Yohji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier. I could have sold it twice over but I decided to keep it in my collection."

That kilt, in all its textured, colourful glory, has become one of Blackwood's most important works. Creating her own take on tartan has become a key part of her process. "I trained as a weaver. I understand this grid-like pattern. I weave on my Harris loom. There's nothing like weaving something to see how it's going to work and feel."

After her Millennium Kilt, Blackwood went on to design vibrant red tartan outfits for the 350-strong cast of the 2010 Commonwealth Games handover in Delhi. Two of the performers wore handmade Jilli Blackwood kilts, complete with sporrans and busby hats crafted by the designer.

The opportunity to design the Scottish team's Commonwealth Games parade outfits came later. So far only the tartan - a colourful design of fuchsia, caramel, turquoise and navy - has been revealed, but Blackwood has had fittings with athletes and says: "I enjoy these projects, working with other people. Things have to be tweaked a little bit - it is a performance at the end of the day.

"I remember wanting to do a performance piece and to design for theatre and then the Delhi handover came along and you don't get a bigger performance than that - a global stage. This is another - the opening ceremony in July - and dressing the Scottish team is another performance."

What of the athletes she is designing for? How does she feel about creating the tartan for our medal-winning hopefuls? "They are coming out and showing their mettle," says Blackwood. "I find that very inspiring." n

jilliblackwood.com