This may sound silly

[Dundonian.on.Islay]

Greetings everyone, for me its finally come to the time of wanting a second kilt...

I was looking to get Stewart of Appin as I already have a kilt in Stewart of Appin hunting tartan.

So I found myself at a crossroads, do I just buy my kilt, have someone make it etc, or do I take up the challenge myself, so while having a gander on the interwebs, it seems as though the price of the fabric is roughly the same as actually buying a kilt, in fairness I know it wouldn't be a hand made Kinloch Anderson but you get my jist haha!

Either way the fabric ive seen can range from about£300-450 where I've seen kilts for roughly the same price machine made though..



Sorry using a tablet just added a couple of screenshots for illustrastion, could it just be that the tartan I'm looking at is an awkward tartan?

Thanks in advance and apologies if this is posted on the wrong board

[figheadair]

I'm not actually sure what you question is? Do you mean that in order the get Stewart of Appin then you're going to have to have a kilt made as being able to buy it ready made and that you're wondering about the cost of sourcing cheaper material?

[Dundonian.on.Islay]

I'm not actually sure what you question is? Do you mean that in order the get Stewart of Appin then you're going to have to have a kilt made as being able to buy it ready made and that you're wondering about the cost of sourcing cheaper material?

Sorry reading back I wasn't really clear, I was just looking at the pros and cons of making your own kilt vs just buying a ready to wear one, and also just wondering why theres only say a £30 difference between the fabric itself vs a ready to rock kilt.

Again apologies for sounding like a dunce haha!

[jhockin]

My personal experience has been that buying the materials ( mid or heavy weight wool tartan, hair canvas, lining material, buckles and straps, thread, bees wax) and "The art of Kilt Making", cost much less than buying a traditional hand sewn kilt, made by a kilt maker.
For example , buying wool tartan from Fraser and Kirkbright (nearby), on sale, plus the other materials, the cost of materials for my first kilt was about $150 CAD.
I realize buying from a Scottish mill is more expensive, per meter, but learning to make your own has the advantage of "free" labour, pride of doing yourselves and, once you've "caught the bug", you can make more kilts, either for yourself, or for friends and relations, to subsidize your new addiction.

[James Hood]

Personal thought is much like doing plumbing or electrical work at home; if you are not certain you can do it right, work with a pro.

After you have made a couple cheapie kilts, it may be another story, but good, let alone possibly custom-woven...best to spend the extra coin for renting the skills.

[Dundonian.on.Islay]

My personal experience has been that buying the materials ( mid or heavy weight wool tartan, hair canvas, lining material, buckles and straps, thread, bees wax) and "The art of Kilt Making", cost much less than buying a traditional hand sewn kilt, made by a kilt maker. For example , buying wool tartan from Fraser and Kirkbright (nearby), on sale, plus the other materials, the cost of materials for my first kilt was about $150 CAD.
I realize buying from a Scottish mill is more expensive, per meter, but learning to make your own has the advantage of "free" labour, pride of doing yourselves and, once you've "caught the bug", you can make more kilts, either for yourself, or for friends and relations, to subsidize your new addiction.

Thanks for the info, when you put it in that respect it would be a labour of love something you done totally on your own I'll have to track down barbs book give it a read and maybe make a couple of practice ones with cheaper, easier to track down wool would love to learn the skill

Personal thought is much like doing plumbing or electrical work at home; if you are not certain you can do it right, work with a pro.

After you have made a couple cheapie kilts, it may be another story, but good, let alone possibly custom-woven...best to spend the extra coin for renting the skills.

That's true, will most likely go down that route abd use cheaper, easier to get a hold of wool to quench my wee intrigue in making a kilt and again, thanks for the input.

[BCAC]

My personal experience has been that buying the materials ( mid or heavy weight wool tartan, hair canvas, lining material, buckles and straps, thread, bees wax) and "The art of Kilt Making", cost much less than buying a traditional hand sewn kilt, made by a kilt maker.
For example , buying wool tartan from Fraser and Kirkbright (nearby), on sale, plus the other materials, the cost of materials for my first kilt was about $150 CAD.
I realize buying from a Scottish mill is more expensive, per meter, but learning to make your own has the advantage of "free" labour, pride of doing yourselves and, once you've "caught the bug", you can make more kilts, either for yourself, or for friends and relations, to subsidize your new addiction.

That depends on the tartan and the weight of the cloth. May not be the case for Stewart of Appin.

[TheOfficialBren]

Agreed. If I were to purchase a kilt (16 oz) in the Shaw tartan (paternal) it would actually be cheaper than buying a sufficient amount of tartan (3 or so metres), lining, interfacing, hair canvas (very expensive in my neck of the woods), straps, and buckles...but that pride thing...you cannot put a pricetag on that. Perhaps I'll give it a go, too.

[Pleater]

You do need to be certain of what you are buying - Woollen fabric, if all wool is usually made 54inch wide, a double width for most people, but there are some produces weaving single width but is should be clear when you are ordering just what you are paying for.

There are some tartans which can't be matched up when cut along the centre line then one half rotated - asymmetrical tartans. These are often offered as lengths already cut along the centre so you would get a continuous length of 27'' width fabric for a kilt, a selvage on one side and a raw edge on the other.

It is possible to work out what length of fabric you would need to make a kilt if you know the size of the set and your own measurements, as you work with the woven pattern. You can't buy exactly that amount of fabric as you need to allow for placing the correct - usually the boldest - part of the sett in the centre of the apron, and if you are pleating to the sett then you would match the pattern of the apron and pleats, so centre front and back are identical.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: