Harris Tweed — Mary Kate Navigates

Sep 16

Sep 16 Harris Tweed

Just south of the Isle of Lewis is the Isle of Harris. Harris is known around the world for its tweed. Harris tweed has been around for centuries but it became a fashion staple for elite designers, royalty, and celebrities in the early 1900’s.

Harris Tweed still has its place within the global fashion market as a handmade textile only made in the outer Hebrides of Scotland.

Local artists use looms in their home to weave the wool - they’re not woven in a mill. Once the weaving is complete, the cloth is brought to the mill for finishing touches. Each cloth is hand inspected for any imperfections, cleaned, pressed, and cropped. The cloth is finally inspected by the Harris Tweed Authority for ultimate quality before it gets the official Harris Tweed stamp of approval to be manufactured into clothes & accessories with the Harris Tweed name.

Another important piece to Harris Tweed is the sustainability factor. The tweed is made from 100% British wool - which means it is natural, renewable, and biodegradable. Plus it’s also naturally wind, water & fire resistant. Since it’s handwoven, it secures jobs for hundreds of weavers in the outer Hebrides. Keeping a long-standing tradition and heritage alive into the next generation.

The Harris Tweed shop is full of colorful fabrics to purchase and also clothes & accessories of all kinds.

It was the perfect place to pick up one of a kind hand-made souvenirs.

Our favorite things to purchase when traveling are booze & Christmas ornaments. The tweed shop had so many adorable tweed ornaments to choose from - sadly no booze in the shop but next door was the Harris Distillery with lots of booze. We also got Dan’s first official tweed cap that makes him look quite dapper, if I do say so myself..

Once we had a bag full of beautiful & special prizes to take home with us, we walked across the street to the Harris Distillery for a tour & some booze!