Reasonably priced Kilt maker

[MacPherson85]

I live in Colorado and am really looking to get a new kilt made. I have the fabric and the hardware, I just need to find someone who can and will do it for me. Anyone know of a Colorado based person?

[Todd Bradshaw]

She isn't in Colorado and I don't know what you consider a reasonable price, but Barb Tewksbury can make you a beautifully built kilt long distance. She has made me four of them over the last few years from my own custom tartans and based on an initial fitting/measuring session done over Skype. Her little ad is on the side of the page here. Here are two of mine.
Superb workmanship!

[McMurdo]

I will second what Todd says, get in touch with Barb Tewksbury, you will not be disappointed.

[LKM]

I would check with the Ren Scots for a person in Colorado as I know they have people who can make kilts, and at least one person who weaves their own tartans.
http://renscots.org

There is another route, making the kilt yourself. You can get The Art of Kiltmaking by Barb Tewksbury, the same person mentioned by people above, and learning how to make a kilt. I have considered this route a few times yet have not yet done it. Perhaps one day when I don't have less projects to finish.
http://www.kilts-n-stuff.com/gifts-a...iltmaking.html

There are some people that sell kilts at festivals. Kommando Kilts seems to have passable kilts, they all use a "standard" drop that does not work for me. The guy that uses the business name of St Kilda is not connected to St Kilda in Scotland and I would not recommend him based on what I have seen of his work. I have also found a place called Kilts in Denver, yet I have never seen their work and there is no place to order from their website.
kommandokilts.com
http://www.kiltsindenverco.com/about/

[Mike S]

I will second what Todd says, get in touch with Barb Tewksbury, you will not be disappointed.

Add me to the list. Barbara makes some of the nicest kilts you will find ANYWHERE, and her prices are more than reasonable for such top of the line workmanship.

[Me cousin Jack]

I have found all reputable kilt makers to be within $20 to $30 dollars of each other, the knock off brands I wouldn’t give a nickel to.

[The Wizard of BC]

I'm going to second the comment by Me Cousin Jack above. As you say that you have your own fabric and supplies, you are asking about the labor component. Most kiltmakers charge about the same labor rate. You are basically talking hourly wage here.

So let me ask please -

Do you know what type of kilt you want someone to sew for you? There is not one standard 'traditional' kilt. Notice please that I put the word traditional in quotes. This is because I am not using the word as it is sometimes used - to mean what accessories are worn with a kilt - but using it to describe how the kilt is constructed.
There is not just one style or type of kilt. Even among those who make 'traditional' kilts. What I mean is that there is not one 'school' of kiltmaking. For example, a kilt made using The Keith School method will be constructed differently than one make by The Gordon & son School method.

Another way to ask the same question is to ask - What do you want to do in your kilt. Many kilts are made with a specific intended use in mind. A kilt made for your wedding may be built differently than one made to go hiking in.

Can you describe your perfect kilt in enough detail, to give whoever you will ask to push a needle through the fabric, enough direction to do what you want?

Do you know what style of pleats you would like? Refined knife pleats, Rugged knife pleats, Short yardage knife pleats, box pleats, Kingussie pleats, Reverse Kinguissie pleats, Military box pleats etc.

I can only assume that the fabric you have is Tartan. Which Tartan can make a very big difference.
Do you know the weaver of the fabric? The fabric weight and composition? Does the fabric have a kilt selvedge?

Do you know if you want the fabric pleated to Sett or to stripe?

These are all questions that any reputable kiltmaker will need to know before they thread a needle,

So maybe the first question that we should ask for just a little more detail on is - What do you consider "reasonably priced"? What is your budget and your expectation?

[The Wizard of BC]

And just so we are all using the same terminology -

The phrase in the garment industry to describe making a garment from customer provided fabric is - Cut Make & Trim. (or CMT)

Some kiltmakers do CMT work and some do not.

So we are talking hourly wage for skilled labor here. So a more correct question to ask a kiltmaker would be - What is your hourly working wage and how many hours does it take for you to make a kilt?

The average time to make a hand-sewn kilt with full floating interfacing and stabilizer is somewhere between 3.5 & 5 8hr. days. So between 30 & 40 man-hours.

Then ask yourself - What is your working hourly wage? That will put you in the ballpark of what a kiltmaker will charge.

[Tobus]

Whoever you choose to build your kilt (I heartily recommend Barb Tewksbury as well, being another of her satisfied customers), make sure you fully understand how kilts should be made, and do your research on the builder. I learned that lesson the hard way, buying what I thought was a well-made kilt at a "reasonable" price, only to find out that it was missing some pretty basic structural elements. It started to stretch and sag, and had to be completely de-constructed and rebuilt by a better-qualified kilt-maker. You can read the entire saga here in this thread, which Steve made into a sticky post. I'd have been better off buying from a reputable kilt-maker to start with, or doing my homework.

If you take anything away from this, it should be that buying a kilt is not as simple as price. Because there is no "standard" way to build a kilt, it's a bit of a free-for-all in the kilt-making market. Everyone does it a little differently. Some of them really know what they're doing and can make lifetime-quality garments, some cannot. You have to educate yourself on all the nit-picky details of kilts and then grill your potential kilt-maker on their techniques if you want to ensure you're getting the best quality for your money.

[MacPherson85]

Thank you to everyone for their input and suggestions! It is a plain brown material and will be worn as one of my daily kilts. Aside from being at work, I wear kilts year round. Again, thank you for all of your suggestions.