Hemming and hawing...

[llyd]

A question for the kiltmaking crowd...what is the consensus on hemming?
Do you measure the total fall and hem prior to pleating, or mark the hem while it is being worn, or do you add say 3/4" to the back length for a small rump, and a little more for a larger rump...to keep the rear of the hem from being too high...

[Barb T]

I assume that your question is about a trad kilt made from tartan? If not, the answer could be very different. Maybe the Wizard can chime in about contemporary kilts, which can be shaped differently if they are not made from tartan.

Anyway, here's what I'd say about a trad kilt made from tartan. A trad kilt is a very simple garment in terms of layout and design. Both the top and the bottom of the kilt have to be parallel to the tartan line, so there's simply no option to have the kilt 3/4" longer in the back. A kilt has to be exactly the same length in the front and in the back, otherwise the bottom of the kilt won't be along the same tartan line top and bottom.

So, in terms of hemming, I lay out a kilt by figuring out where I want the bottom of the kilt to be after hemming and measure from there to rip the tartan. When I lay out the center front apron and underapron, I measure the distance to the bottom of the fell and to the waist from the place where I'm going to turn the hem, and I lay out the apron flare with respect to where I will turn for the hem as well.

And for calculations, the length of the fell is calculated to be 1/3 of the finished length of the kilt, not the length before hemming.

[RockyR]

Another thing I've found to be useful... when hemming, allow a 1.5 - 2" hem. Less (1" or .5") will make the pleats 'kick out' at the bottom. More (3" or more) will get too cumbersome.

[llyd]

Thanks so much!

Barb, That is pretty much what I was wanting to know, I'm not making trad kilts (yet) but messing about with some solids and simple modern stuff...My wife is teaching me based on what she knows, but we're figuring it out sort of empirically...I am BTW going to order your book today...

Rocky..We did just that with the first kilt, done in camo print cotton/poly, and it worked nicely...the second, and the first garment I have ever made by myself, was a medium poly wool, it did not work out so well..too much bulk and the pleat bottoms are goofy..I'm going to live with it, as it has other problems from errors I made, and doesn't look too unpresentable..anyway, with lighter cloth I'll do just what you suggest.

[Barb T]

Another thing I've found to be useful... when hemming, allow a 1.5 - 2" hem. Less (1" or .5") will make the pleats 'kick out' at the bottom. More (3" or more) will get too cumbersome.

My experience is that this depends on the weight of the tartan. I've put a scant 1/2" hem into an 11 oz kilt for a dancer who wanted her kilt just the right length. That basically boils down to turning up the selvedge. If you press carefully and don't run the iron right along the line between the single and double thickness, it's not even noticeable.

That wouldn't work very well for 16 oz tartan, and I agree with Rocky that the pleats would tend to kick out at the bottom. I have done a very small hem in 13 oz for someone who bought a kilt second hand, and it was fine.