A HarrisTweed Weaver

Gordon Macdonald weaves Harris Tweed at home on Lewis Street in Stornoway, one of a small number of independent weavers still working under the terms of the Harris Tweed Act, which requires the cloth be handwoven by islanders in their own homes. He began in 2014, sourcing yarn from the Shawbost and Carloway mills before designing and weaving on a single-width Hattersley loom or a wider Griffiths model. The finished cloth, sold by the metre in short runs and through custom commissions, carries the Harris Tweed Orb mark certifying it was made this way rather than in a factory. Macdonald handles every stage himself, from warping the loom to invoicing and packing orders for posting. His patterns have appeared in limited runs for outside labels including Gamble and Gunn. The workshop is a working home, not a shopfront.