Quote Originally Posted by HarveyH View Post
... Different makers baste in different ways. My own maker never knots the thread becuase a pull on a knot could damage the cloth. He also uses a holding stitch rather than a running stitch because he wants the pleats held in place securely. ...

Equally, whilst pulling a running stitch carefully should be ok, you do stand a significant risk of cloth threads being pulled and damaging the finish. When sewing the basting in you can sew through individual threads of the cloth (this is perfectly normal). Pulling a length of thread through such a stitch can abrade the thread itself. I have heard of people doing this to save the thread, but frankly a couple of yards of cheap basting thread is not worth saving by comparison to the cost of a kilt. Using a stitch ripper or (carefully) scissors and snipping through each baste and then removing is much safer for the kilt.
Harvey: I wrote from experience, not expertise. Every kilt I own (12 of them) was basted in the way I described, and they were made by a variety of reputable kilt makers. I have never experienced damage, or any perceivable disruption, to the wool threads of the kilt as the basting thread was "gently" pulled to its remaining "tied" end. I cared "knot" about the basting thread itself and simply discarded it.

Perhaps I should have quoted the word 'knots' in my original comment and/or stated that they are not really knots in the usual sense, but simply places where the thread passes under previous stitches to hold the ends in place. I chose not to do so, because that is, or at least should be, obvious under examination as the owner begins the removal process. Finally, for me snipping through each stitch wold not be worth the time. Life is too short.

John