Buttonhole for Straps on a Box Pleat Kilt

[Pleater]

I think it is a purely individual choice, though for someone purchasing it is sometimes the choice of the maker rather than the eventual owner.

It is not a true buttonhole, in that there is no bar of thread through it to fix a button. The strain of fastening be taken by the fixing of the buckle and strap. Constructing a continuous line of reinforcement within the garment is important, and the slot could be a weak point.

I have used at various times a metal bar and hook fixed to elastic, a D ring and cord and a safety pin, as means to hold the inner apron, all on the inside, so the webbing I use as the strengthening in the waistband was not divided by making a slot.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Tartan Hiker]

I agree with the above. 4 yarders are so light that it doesn't take a lot to keep them in place. That's the beauty of the box-pleated kilt after all. I must admit, however, that I use Velcro tabs on the left side to ensure that things stay snug and lined up.

Not traditional, correct. But if Velcro had been available I bet early kiltmakers would have used it. If it's good enough for nearly every modern military force to hold their gear together, it's good enough for me. I use Velcro on both sides of my hiking kilts.

AND there is nothing more comfortable than having no straps and buckles under your belt.

[jhughes]

I used a hook and eye on the one I made.

[Barb T]

The main issue with putting a buttonhole in a box pleated kilt is that it can wind up being too far toward the back because the pleats tend to be bigger. The buttonhole in a knife-pleated kilt is between the 2nd and 3rd pleats, which, at the waist, puts the buttonhole typically only an inch and a half or less back from the apron edge. If you have a typical tartan sett size for a box pleated kilt, the buttonhole can be a couple inches to several inches back. That doesn't give you much strap length to run through the buckle.