Venturing into philabeg land...an inquiry (or three)

**Mark E.** · 14th June 13, 07:51 PM

Hello all...This has probably been worked to death, but I could not find it. I am on track/researching the making of a wee kilt (hopefully close in fashion to one of a very early 18th century/late 17th century variety), and have been poring over the book, The Art of Kiltmaking. Well, they list yardage required (for my size) as being 6 yards of single width or 3(ish) yards of DOUBLE width. I happen to have 8 yards of DOUBLE width, so I am thinking I can glean both a proper wee kilt as well as retaining the remaining material for a great kilt. My question, one that I could NOT find covered in the book, is how to take the two pieces ripped/cut from the DOUBLE width material, and link them end to end so as to make the longer required section of material that the text and directions go on to be made into a kilt.

Second question, mainly to the belt wearers out there-Is belt width restricted to the spacing of the two buckle straps that are the main cinchers on the wee kilt? If so...can these be spaced sensibly to accommodate a wider (say, 3") belt without losing their primary design function?

Any info is appreciated!

PS. If I am misguided in utilizing this text as a build guide for the target era of kilt that I am after, any guidance/redirection is also appreciated.

**The Wizard of BC** · 14th June 13, 11:26 PM

Good day sir,

In reference to the amount of fabric you need. Would you please give us your hip circumference. This is the measurement needed to determine how much fabric your kilt will take.

The next thing we need is the Sett size of your fabric and how you intend to pleat your kilt.
The Art of Kiltmaking is geared towards the current style 8 yard kilt. The kilts of the period you are interested in were often what we refer to as 4 yard box pleat kilts. It is common to find then "pleated to nothing" which means they were simply folded regardless of the Tartan pattern.

Is this the type of kilt you are planning?

We can then go on to answer your other questions.

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 15th June 13, 03:50 AM

A feilidh-beag (phillabeg) of the late 17th and early 18th century would have very little resemblance to anything you find in The Art of Kiltmaking. That is a very good reference for how to make a modern day kilt. We have made downloadable instructions as to how to adapt that method for making a kiltin the style of an early nineteenth century box pleated kilt. But an early 18th century feilidh-beag is another matter altogether.

A feilidh-beag of that period would have been made from approximately four yards of cloth, used the entire web (selvage to selvage) of the cloth, which would have been somewhere around 25" or slightly more wide. It would have been untailored, worn by gathering the cloth around the waist and belting it on.

If you have four yards of 54" wide material at your disposal and don't want to wear it as a feilidh-mor what I would do would be to rip a section 25" wide from it to use as your feilidh-beag. No tailoring would be required, but you will want to hem the cut end. If you want to add something to facilitate wear, you could install belt loops every repeat of the sett or so which would help to naturally gather the fabric when you belt it on. Many have installed "cheater pleats" just sewing the pleats down at the waist only, which gets hidden by the belt when worn (shhhh... we won't tell). No pressing necessary, and by all means don't pleat to sett or stripe, just a random arrangement.

The remainder of the cloth you can wear as a plaid over your shoulders. Again, you'll want to hem or fringe the cut end.

**Mark E.** · 15th June 13, 07:01 AM

I am a 42" HIP, 34" real waist. Also, 26" from real waist to floor (whilst on knees). Photo attached of sett.

I would like to have some recognizable definition to the pleating. I do not know the difference between "box pleats" and others...I am a 15yr great kilt veteran, and just pleat the bugger.

My approach to using the fabric I have is one of stinginess-I would like to keep a great kilt, as well as have a wee kilt, without purchasing more fabric...hence the sticking two together-I figure I need bare minimum 5 yards for the great, which means I have 3ish yards (again, DOUBLE WIDTH) to play with.

IMG_20130615_084433.jpg

**Mark E.** · 15th June 13, 07:07 AM

Well...I was going for the wee kilt style of Rob Roy (near the end of the movie)...I saw no loops there. I probably need to watch it again though. I can't imagine getting anything to stay put without having things sewn at the top. I was thinking of using the Book just as a guide to get the flare and sewing tips-it's a rather complicated read.

"another matter altogether"-Does this mean there are NO guides to the construction of the early 18th/late 17th century forms?

I'm not at the end of my great kilt wearing days-I just am looking into the efficiency of a pre-pleated grab and go kilt.

**Dale Seago** · 15th June 13, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by Mark E.

"another matter altogether"-Does this mean there are NO guides to the construction of the early 18th/late 17th century forms?

Well, for that period there was no "construction" to a feileadh beag in the first place, so. . .no.

Matt suggested,

If you want to add something to facilitate wear, you could install belt loops every repeat of the sett or so which would help to naturally gather the fabric when you belt it on.

That's something that seems to have been done at least some of the time with the feileadh mor, using a drawstring to gather the fabric; and tying the drawstring at your waist will also help hold the kilt up. I used to use a 4-yard length of single-width tartan as a feileadh beag, and I simply hand-pleated it and belted it with a narrow belt. With the hem at my knee, that of course left about 4 inches hanging over the outside of the belt at the top, which wasn't terribly secure in itself unless I didn't care about being able to breathe. However, I'd then put on a broader dirk belt, over the overlapping fabric, thus trapping the fabric between the two belts and holding it in place very securely. It looked good that way, too.

**xman** · 15th June 13, 09:29 AM

I think Matt's right here, tear 25" off of that and then tear that in half so it's only 4 yds long, then make a filibeg, a box pleat and an 8 yarder without joining any fabric.

**Mark E.** · 15th June 13, 12:02 PM

Well, seems I have gotten one question answered and a point completely missed...I am going to "wing it", and try to make TWO KILTS-one a wee kilt, the other a length of fabric that I will retain as a 'double width great kilt'...since for all intents and purposes I have the last length of tartan I plan to use, 8 yards long. Sure as all heck don't plan to make two wee kilts, or a single width quasi-great kilt, and don't plan to waste 2/3'ds of the material.

Thanks all, for the guidance and enlightenment.

**Steve Ashton** · 15th June 13, 03:34 PM

To answer your question about stitching the join please see page 82 of The Art of Kiltmaking, second printing, or page 28 of the Box Pleat supplement.