top band of kilt

[Barb T]

From a kiltmaker's perspective, I was taught to match the stripes in the apron and the top band. But, sometimes there really isn't any choice but to not have a match. I made a kilt for a VERY tall guy awhile back, and there was literally nothing left to make a top band except a weft-wise strip. Because tartan is never quite a 45° weave, the sett measured parallel to the warp is never the same as that measured parallel to the weft, so, it's impossible to match the tartan in a weft-wise top band with the tartan at the top of the apron, whose edge is warp-wise. I agonized, of course, but it looked fine in the end because it was so far off that it was clear that it was never meant to match.

What DOES drive me crazy are the kilts where the kiltmaker has clearly intended to match the tartan in the apron but the top band is off by a little bit in a few places. To me, that's just sloppy. If it's supposed to match, it should match. When I'm putting a top band on and I find a part that doesn't match in the apron, I take out the stitching and fix it so that it matches precisely. To me, having a top band that was never intended to match is no crime; having one that was intended to match but that was put on carelessly is a question of workmanship.

And every once in awhile, the stars align, and the top band matches in BOTH the apron and the underapron. The first time that happened to me was in a kilt I made for Matt Newsome. And he was one of the only people who would have appreciated the coincidence!

And sometimes the stars REALLY align! The first kilt I made for my grandson was pleated to the sett and had a top band that matched in the apron, the underapron, AND the pleats!!! Never had that happen in another kilt.