Interview on Keikari.com

Link to an interview with Andrew on http://www.Keikari.com

http://www.keikari.com/english/interview-with-andrew-livingston/

Ladies Bespoke Jacket

Beautiful pink herringbone tweed by Holland & Sherry.

Military cut trews without side seam

This is the Kennedy Ancient tartan from which we are making trews without side seams.

 The pattern system used derives from a side seam draft used to make Military Overalls.

This is a similar system used by J P Thornton and dates from around 1916.

These Trews do not have waistbands and are cut in the plain top style to be worn with braces.



The trouble with only having one leg seam is that all the shaping is done on the inside. This leads to a very shapeless leg which is uncharacteristic of Trews.

The Secret is Ironwork.

This is a skill used by traditional Bespoke Tailors to create the shape of a seam where no seam is present.

This picture illustrates before and after the ironwork is done.

Most makers miss this stage out and this is why it is hard to find nicely cut Trews without a side seam.

Trews basted for fitting.

Tartan Trews

 Tartan Trousers made from the Douglas Green Muted Tartan from House of Edgar.

These are crafted in our own workroom and cut with the prominent colour of the tartan down the crease on the front and back (if practical). This follows the colour regulations used in military trews, where regiments stated which colour the stripe on the crease had to be. It is a practice not often followed because of the extra cloth it takes but we feel the symmetry it gives is well worthwhile.

We draft a pattern built to the measures of each customer which is stored for future orders. Also we build proper inlays to allow the garment to be eased in the future if necessary. (Future proofing)


Proper Military Parade and Mess Trews have a higher rise (body depth) and are also cut higher at the back to be worn with braces.

 This Tartan is the Buchanan Ancient again from House of Edgar. It is a bit more challenging to cut because the pattern is one way. We chose to take the dark line down the crease or we would have one yellow crease and one orange crease. It also took a lot of care to get the pattern to match at the seat seam because again a yellow running into orange would offend the eye.

Some regiments wore Trews with no side seams, this is quite good for us because it uses a lot less cloth! But because all the shaping is done on one seam they are cut a lot more open in the legs. So from a tailoring point of view we need to do a lot more shrinking and stretching to correct the leg shape.

The effect of the check without a side seam is quite different, I will try to post some pictures of a future order.

Scottish Tweed Skirts

The Finished Article. Lovat Mill Tweed Skirts, tailored in Castle Douglas.

Beautifully lined with a pink lining and with real Alcantara button adjusters.

Holland & Sherry Cloth

With such a wide variety of fabrics available, knowing where to start can be daunting. Colour, pattern and fabric composition all have to be considered.

British cloth still holds a high reputation all over the world and Holland & Sherry is no exception.

This video takes a look at Holland and Sherry in Peebles & Saville Row.

Scottish Tweed Skirts

These tweed skirts being cut are going to be a new line stocked in our Ladies Shop

BBC Landward

BBC Landward Clip Link


This is a BBC video clip about us Making a Tweed Jacket for Dougie Vipond (the drummer from Deacon Blue)

Lovat Mill of Hawick designed this beautiful tweed specially for the BBC Landward Programme. We were asked to make and fit a jacket for Dougie to wear at the Highland Show. Dougie ended up with a garment entirely made in Scotland.

The video link will only work from a UK IP address.

Gold Medal winning Jacket

Gold Medal Winning Jacket Link

This a link to a picture of the jacket we made for the Tailor & Cutter Competition in 1954.

The Jacket was entirely made by hand with no machine work and took over a month to make.

We tried entering the provincial class a few times to no avail, we then made this jacket to enter the open class against all the West End tailors and won The Keith and Henderson Cup!

We believe we are the only Scottish firm to win Gold.

Inside pocket

Making an in breast pocket

Jacket :- In breast pocket

Jacket in breast pocket pockets into facing, note lower hare pocket with strap to scye.

Tweed Plus Two Suit

Lovely basket weave tweed, woven in Scotland.

Plus Four Shooting Suit :- marked and ready to cut.

This tweed will make a robust suit which should cope with plenty of wear throughout its life.

Instead of action back, this jacket will have a high armhole and a full back sleeve to give plenty of flexibility and movement for shooting.

Mark stiching

Striking Light Grey Suit

Striking light grey suit.

Preparing the linings

Preparing to baste linings on to the facing.

Facings on

Our latest creation

Preparing to sew on the facings.