Revisions for The Art of Kiltmaking

[way2fractious]

3) The Cameron Highlander military kilts have a strange pleating that everyone struggles to describle. I've seen it here and elsewhere described as "cane" pleating. Basically, it each pleat is a three-dimensional checkmark laying on the long side, if that makes sense. Can you cover how to do this, as well? It has excellent swing, so I'd like to reproduce it on kilts in the future.

I saw your post after I posted this about the military box pleat. The pic might help.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...22&postcount=7

I'm pretty sure Barb is intending her extra chapter to cover only the regular box pleat. (But, perhaps she would entertain the idea of a reference to the other styles? :rolleyes: )

The military box pleat is a daunting task for even the most foolhardy among us. For a year now, I have been pursuing the techniques to make my own. This extended to a couple of practice pieces, including one kilt (still unfinished.) That thread with pictures of the work in progress is here: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=16994

If any of this helps - great. Good luck in your kiltmaking adventures.

w2f

BTW - Welcome to XMarksTheScot. Ask any questions you want to and, chances are, you might get a coherent answer.

[AtagahiKC]

Thanks, W2F.

[JohnH]

Hi Barb,

I just finished reading "The Art of Kiltmaking". Just what I needed. After I have reread it a few times, (2 or 3 weeks) I will start making a 16oz., 8 yard, solid Navy wool kilt as per your instructions, as a practice piece to make sure I won't make a complete fool of myself at KiltKamp 2007. When it is finished, I can send pics, if you wish.

After my first read through, I looked with new eyes at my 13oz., 8 yard, Ancient Hunting MacRae, made in Glasgow, kilt and found that I had a perfect candidate for your "Chamber of Horrors". (Sorry, Examples of workmanship!) I cannot, for the life of me, see how on earth they managed to do what they did. (And I don't think it can be fixed.)



If they were trying to pleat to a half-width sett, then they missed the 3rd. white stripe and the centre back stripe does not match the one on the front apron. If they were pleating to a normal sett, they made a complete dog's dinner of it.

I also noticed that the seam on the edge of the front apron was coming unstitched, so, using the methods described in the book, I re-stitched it. IMHO, my stitches are better than the originals! A great confidence booster. I am no longer scared about attempting to sew a kilt by hand.

[JimB]

Good on ya!
Kiltmaking takes patience and Barb's book will be invaluable to you.
Like most of us who make our own kilts you will probably find small ways to make the job your own.
By the way, I'm a retired US Navy Senior Chief and I love your avatar.
That gave me the idea to use one of my old anchors as a kilt pin

[AtagahiKC]

Barb - I have another suggested topic. How should one match the pattern/sett on a check pattern, like the Shepherd tartan? Or another way to ask it is how to pleat it and match the fabric along the fell? I'm not sure there is a way since a check is so small, but I thought you would know if anyone did.

It is the tartan that people wear in Northumbria and Cumbria along the English/Scottish border. My family came from the Debatable Lands in what is now Cumbria in England; that would be the most appropriate tartan according to a friend in Newcastle.

I've seen pics of the tartan made into a kilt somewhere, but it didn't have enough resolution to see the details of the pleats or along the fell. {I Googled it and found Matthew Newsome's article on it. It doesn't cover my question per se, but does have a pic of it. http://blog.albanach.org/archive/200...r_archive.html

I'd appreciate any advice or inclusion in the new version of the book. Thanks!

[Peter C.]

Hi Barb,
You wanted some feedback about your book. Well first let me say what a great book it is. My experience of sewing is very limited. I can sew a mean button on and have sewn up the hem on a trouser leg in an emergency when I was in the British military-but I did it my way Now, with the help of your book, I have just stitched the join on my first trial kilt (using cheap fabric).
My estimated number of pleats was nowhere near the actual number when I marked out the kilt but I got there in the end, and have no idea what I did wrong. However it seems from postings here that I am not alone having problems in that area.
One thing I found when using a tartan with a small sett (the tartan I am using for my trial kilt has only a 4 inch sett) is when choosing a prominent line when stitching the join, make sure that when the join is laid flat for the flat-felled seam, that the flat-felled seam stitching does not disapear into the stitched fell at the top. I appreciate that with a bigger sett and therefore deeper pleats this is not likely to happen.
I have bought 4 yds of 16oz double width Magregor Modern which is a fairly simple tartan and therefore ideal for a first self-made kilt.
It must have been great learning from Elsie Stuehmeyer, and then the research and production of the book must have been the next best thing to doing your own apprenticeship in kiltmaking.
Thanks for the book Barb. I can`t wait to buy the extra chapter and bits to update it.

PS Someone mentioned the possible use of photos in the second book. I prefer line drawings as they show only what you are talking about and show it very clearly. If you did use photos you would have to use contrasting thread for us to see anything.

Hope I haven`t waffled too much

Peter C.

[Barb T]

Hi Peter!

Thanks for the feedback! Yes, the reason that most sewing instructions are done with line drawings is to focus the eye on what needs to be done. I'm going to include a few more photos in the 2nd edition, but it won't be at the expense of the line drawings.

Help me out a little with what happened with the pleats. I'm a little confused about how you wound up with a different number of pleats than you marked at the beginning. Were you pleating to the stripe or to the sett? Did you mark a certain number of pleats but made more or fewer pleats as you went along? Did you need more or fewer pleats because the size wasn't coming out right? Or do you mean that you estimated roughly how many pleats you might need but wound up with a different number when you did the actual layout?

If you can help me understand where you went wrong, I can fix the instructions and make them clearer.

Cheers!

B

[Peter C.]

Hi Barb,

My estimation of the number of pleats was way out! Your eexample suggested needing 36inches for aprons and 36inches for facings etc. for a 36inch waist kilt. I assumed that for a 40 inch waist kilt you would estimate 40inches for aprons and 40inches for facings. I had about 6yds of fabric. I took 80inches for aprons and facings and divided the balance by 4 (4inch sett) and got 33. So 33 pleats. I decided to pleat to the sett as I thought I would get slightly deeper pleats. I realised that I would have slightly fewer pleats by pleating to the sett but was suprised when I marked it out and only had 23 pleats. This meant that the pleat size at the bottom of the fell would be 1 inch.

I have been using a cheap piece of fabric just to learn the techniques of kilt making. The fabric I have bought for my first selfmade kilt is 4yds of 16oz double width MacGregor Modern which is a simple tartan which will be best pleated to the line. I think that may also be a little easier.

The kilt I wear for piping was made by Kinloch Anderson in Scotland. It is a beautifully made kilt. It seems from their label that they make kilts for the Royal Family.
What I thought might interest you Barb, was the way they stitched the join.
They trimmed the fabric so that the join fell on the inner fold of the pleat. Then they stitched half an inch in from the raw edges and overlocked the raw edges together to stop them fraying.

I tried to post this yesterday, but it doesn`t seem to be there so I am trying again.

Since then I have done some more work and have a couple more points you may be interested in.

This kilt will have a hem, sowhen it came to `finishing the bottom edge` I went straight to Option B without reading Option A. Option B paragraph 1 says `If you are holding the kilt with the top to the left, the underapron is the farthest away from you`. I had just finished stitching the join, so the top of the kilt was to the left but the kilt was wrong side up. I realised that the apron that was farthest away was the overapron, so I turned back and read Option A. In Option A you do say that the kilt should be right side up. Reading on in Option A, in paragraph 2 you say- fold the lower edge of the kilt, tapering from 7/8inch to nothing, then baste about 1 inch from the selvedge edge?

I hope this is the sort of feedback that you want Barb. If I am knit-picking please tell me.

Regards

Peter

[Barb T]

Hi Peter

This is great feedback - thanks!

The approximation in the chapter on how kilts are constructed was actually never intended to allow you to figure out how many pleats you'd have for a kilt. I'll make sure that it's clear in the second edition! And, truthfully, I should really change that chapter to say 36" at the _hips_, not the waist, because that's the determining measurement. So, thanks for pointing me to what I should rewrite with that.

The only way to figure out # of pleats is to actually lay out your tartan and figure it out. 23 pleats isn't horrible by any stretch of the imagination!

And thanks for the Option A-Option B part that I need to clarify.

Cheers,

Barb

[cacunn]

Barb
Looking at the pictures of the kilted gentlemen many of use have a barley and hops enhanced waist line (beer belly). Could you go in to some detail about adjusting the measurements for us?

Thanks for a book and all the help you have provided to XMTS.