---- Mike S <mikes@FLATSURFACE.COM> wrote:
> On 2/19/2013 5:02 PM, MICHAEL H wrote:
> > ... again, not to go Blackwell. I think tweed is a type of weave as
> > well as a fabric.
>
> Yep. Just ask Fender, although it might more properly be called "twill,"
> or uncommonly "tweel."

Well, the name tweed for the fabric, according to sources I have consulted, came from a corruption of the Scottish "tweel," meaning the same as the English "twill," and not from the River Tweed and the surrounding district, as is popularly believed.

For more than you ever wanted to know about types of fabric:

http://fabricstockexchange.com/blog/resources/common-fabric-types/

And here is what the fabric stock exchange (the industry trade association) has to say about tweed and twill:

"Tweed - A medium to heavy weight, fluffy, woolen, twill weave fabric containing colored slubbed yarns. Common end-uses include coats and suits.

Twill - A basic weave in which the fabrics are constructed by interlacing warp and filling yarns in a progressive alternation which creates a diagonal effect on the face, or right side, of the fabric. In some twill weave fabrics, the diagonal effect may also be seen clearly on the back side of the fabric."

So, 'cordin to the trade group, if it ain't wool, it ain't tweed, though it might be twill of any fiber.  And if it is tweed, it is also twill, but in that case is definitely wool.

Oh well.

--
David McNeely