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  1. #1
    Join Date
    27th October 09
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    Re: Do kilts have a "break-in" period?

    To better advise you would you please do an experiment for me.

    Hold up your kilt by the two top buckles. You need to watch the area of the Fell or pleats between the buckles in the back of the kilt. Then pull on the buckles. You are trying to pull them apart just as they are when you strap the kilt on.. Do this firmly with about as much force as you would expect to happen while you wear your kilt, move around in it and bend. Say 20 pounds of pull.

    Do you see any stretch or movement in the area directly between the buckles? Do the buckles or the tabs holding them to the kilt move at all? Is the stress of the pulling taken up by the stitching in the Fell at all? Does it look like the pleats are being pulled apart exposing the stitches.

    If you see any stretching between the buckles the problem may be that the kilt maker forgot to put the stabilizer into the kilt. With the stabilizer in and well stitched down there should be no stretch between the buckles. None, nada, zilch. All the stress should be taken up by the stabilizer. There should be no stress trasferred to the stitching of the pleats.
    Thank you for that, Steve. I did this experiment last night, and it is as you described. When I hold it by the buckles and pull, there is stretching between them. And I do see the stitching being pulled on.

    What's weird is that when I lay the kilt open and look around the edges of the lining, I can see the very edge of what appears to be a stabilizer underneath. The lining is black, but there is a layer of firm tan-coloured material below it, which I would assume is the stabilizer. But if so, it is apparently not doing the job. I was pretty disappointed to see that.

    So I guess here's where I eat some crow and say that my kilt is not as well made as I previously stated. The question is, then, what can be done about it? How difficult is it for a kiltmaker to take the lining off, evaluate what's below it, and (possibly) stitch a stabilizer in place?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    16th September 09
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    Re: Do kilts have a "break-in" period?

    I'd be interested to know who made this kilt?
    - Justitia et fortitudo invincibilia sunt
    - An t'arm breac dearg

  3. #3
    Join Date
    24th August 08
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    Re: Do kilts have a "break-in" period?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tobus View Post
    What's weird is that when I lay the kilt open and look around the edges of the lining, I can see the very edge of what appears to be a stabilizer underneath. The lining is black, but there is a layer of firm tan-coloured material below it, which I would assume is the stabilizer.
    You may be correct here, or possibly not. There should be two internal parts in the back: A piece of hair canvas interfacing, and a stabilizer. What you're seeing may be interfacing... The stabilizer could be made of the same thing, or the kiltmaker could have used a different material altogether. Hard to know without a little exploratory surgery.


    Quote Originally Posted by Tobus View Post
    How difficult is it for a kiltmaker to take the lining off, evaluate what's below it, and (possibly) stitch a stabilizer in place?
    Removing the liner, evaluating what's underneath, and installing the stabilizer is a relatively simple task. I don't know what a kiltmaker would charge; it's mostly labor that you'd be paying for. (If you were nearby, I'd do it for a pint or two at the local pub!! ...but I'm not a professional kiltmaker...)
    "Far an taine ‘n abhainn, ‘s ann as mò a fuaim."
    Where the stream is shallowest, it is noisiest.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    25th September 04
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    Victoria, BC, Canada 1123.6536.5321
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    Re: Do kilts have a "break-in" period?

    As flyrod said, installing a stabilizer is not a complex job. With good instruction and basic hand stitching skills anyone should be able to do it.

    Notice that I said should.

    The daunting and scary part is taking a razor blade to a perfectly good kilt that you paid a good penny for.

    The Stabilizer is a small, thin strip of fabric. Usually broadcloth similar to a bed sheet. It is sewn inside the kilt between the two top buckle tabs.

    To install a stabilizer would required you to un-stitch the liner, un-stitch most of the hair canvas interfacing, and remove the buckles.

    You then stitch the stabilizer in place firmly sewing it to the pleats and insuring that the stabilizer is just long enough to keep the back of the kilt the original size.

    You then re-install the hair canvas interfacing, stitching it to the kilt and to the stabilizer.
    Then you re-install the buckles by stitching the tabs completely through the kilt, stabilizer and interfacing.

    Finally you put the liner back in place.

    I just finished exactly the same job on a regimental kilt. Total time involved was more than if you did it from scratch due to the disassembly required. Say 4 - 4.5 hours.

    The sewing part is not hard. Understanding what to do and how to do it so the stabilizer and interfacing do what they are supposed to do is not difficult to learn. Barb's book explains it really well.

    As I said the scary part is that first step of cutting into your kilt. Not a job for the faint of heart or those who have never torn a garment apart for an alteration.
    Steve Ashton
    www.freedomkilts.com
    Skype (webcam enabled) thewizardofbc
    I wear the kilt because:
    Swish + Swagger = Swoon.

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