There are a range of tweed hats in the Glencroft range, some made with genuine Harris Tweed 100% wool hand woven on the Outer Hebrides as well as a selection made from wool blend tweeds.
Our tweed hats have been manufactured 100% in the UK since we first began in 1987. Many styles such as the traditional flat cap and deerstalker have proved so popular they have never gone out of production.
The following is a summary of our manufacturing process, this can vary depending on the style in question.
1. Tweed cloth
The process starts with rolls of tweed cloth, this is purchased from a variety of sources. In the case of Harris Tweed it comes from one of the three mills on the Isle Of Lewis.
We also use wool blend tweeds and Teflon coated 100% wool tweeds in some styles of hats and caps.
In order to produce our caps in the UK at a competitive price we use the tweed colours that are available at the time of purchase, rather than picking specific colours. By not being picky with our colours we can reduce the cost per hat/cap and pass this saving on to our retailers.
Some colours are always available (such as green and blue) which is what we recommend for internet retailers who need to provide a consistent colour. However physical shops get the opportunity to have an assorted mix of unique tweeds colours, some of them are so unique we may never see again!
2. Cutting the cloth
The right amount of tweed material is cut out from the cloth using ‘knives’ such as these pictured.
The knives are sharp on one side. The knife is placed on top of the tweed material to be cut. The material and knife are then placed under a press, which when brought down, cleanly cuts out the desired shape in the cloth.
These templates allow us to obtain the perfect shape for the hat being made while also minimising cloth wastage.
3. Assembling the hat
The hat is then assembled and sewn together. Plastic strengtheners are added to peaks where required, tie ribbons added to deerstalkers, poppers added to some styles and many more processes. All done manually on sewing machines.
This is a machine (image left) for adding press studs or poppers, something we add to our Harris Tweed faux fur trapper hats. It’s also very handy when a popper breaks on your coat, easy replacement!
4. Adding the hat lining
The cloth has been assembled and the hat looks like a hat, the lining is now sewn in to give a comfy and even finish for the wearer. Sometimes the lining is added before assembling the pieces, depending on the hat style in question.
5. Pressing the hat
The final stage of the process is putting the hat on the press. The heat press will stretch the hat slightly to the exact shape and size.
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