Any way to fix the "finish" of wool being poor on a kilt? (details in message)

[JCX]

Short story: the custom woven fabric we used to have the kilt made did not get a proper finish, and so the kilt wrinkles very easily. Anything that can be done at this point?

Details: (feel free to ask questions).

The kilt is worn by my son. He is a highland dancer, and in addition to years of caring for his many dance kilts, my husband also wears wool kilts regularly.
Just including this to help explain that I am not a total newbie -- I have 20 years+ of experience dealing with kilts in my house!


In 2019 we ordered a small single width order (<10yards) from Dalgliesh/Scotweb to make a new dancing kilt for my son. Tartan was not one that was available in stock anywhere.
I think we ordered 11oz weight but I'm not 100% sure
Kilt was sewn by experienced and well known kilt maker (don't want to name but I have nothing but good things to say about them)
The kilt maker reached out to let me know that the fabric puckered when being pressed after sewing. They said the cloth was not finished in the same way as it should be
I sent many emails to the mill about the issue, but they insisted there was nothing wrong with the fabric and blamed the kilt maker
I did find on the Dalgliesh site (at the time) a notation that single width woven fabric has a different finish process from double

The kilt itself is gorgeous - the fit was perfect and the swing is lovely.
However, coming out of the closet, the kilt always looks like he's just pulled it out of a bag of dirty laundry.
I would carefully press the front apron before championship competitions, but it never stayed looking good.
In all the years of dealing with our family kilts, and my son's dance kilts, I've never had one that you couldn't hang in the bathroom with a steamy shower and have it look like new!
I've never even had to iron a kilt at all before this one.

Sadly, he even had informal dance examiner feedback that his kilt wasn't presenting well due to the wrinkled look.

He no longer competes, so it's not such an issue anymore - but he does still wear the kilt for other occasions.

Does anybody have any idea of what might be possible?
Thanks so much --
(long time lurker on this forum, finally joined after 10 years to ask this question...)

[Troglodyte]

Do you have any pictures of the problem kilt?

My experience of Dalgleish cloth is excellent - I would even go as far as saying that I feel their weaving with a traditional kilting selvedge at both sides, and 'handle' of the cloth is superior to other weaver's offerings for a traditional kilt. But my experience is limited to heavyweight kiltings, not lightweight (11oz) cloth.

As you are happy with the quality of the kilt's construction, I would suggest that the problem comes from the weight of the cloth - thinner and lighter-weight cloths tend to lose their pleats very easily and require more frequent pressing than heavyweight. If your problem kilt is being sat in (say, while travelling in a car) an 11oz cloth will never hold up as well as a 16oz version - but dancers seem to like the lightweight, flighty, cloths.

There are 'stay-pressed' products that can be applied to give the cloth a better hold on the pleats, which may be best applied to the inside of the kilt in case there is any 'show' with the product. Some commercial dry-cleaners have a kind of glue that is applied to the inside of pleats and folds before pressing, and the heat from the pressing iron sets the crease firmly and permenantly.

A fine running stitch done in invisible thread (like that done by tailors around the edges of lapels on a jacket) a short distance in from the edge of the pleat might be a solution. But if your son is likely to put on a growth spurt soon, he may quickly out-grow the problem, and a new kilt in a heavyweight cloth is the long-term solution.

[Adrian]

That's interesting to hear, I don't know whether you are aware or not D C Dalgliesh closed and went into liquidation April 2025. In the last few years, Not all fabric was woven in house, small amount was contracted out and may have been woven on rapier looms rather than the shuttle looms that were in D C Dalgliesh. Now whether this was the case when this was woven, I don't know.
I purchased the yarn stock and samples, scrap material which includes ends from a weave. There may even be an end from the weave somewhere in one of many bags in the shipping container. The finishers when they return cloth always record a comment if there's an issue, may say something like slightly cockle. Bad yarn, Residual tension problems etc
I will need a little info PM to me, don't expect anything quick.

[Adrian]

One question I'd ask has the fabric actually been finished ? You can tell by the feel, unfinished feels slightly hairy and won't have shrunk and closed up properly. When it's at the finishers, it's washed, shaved, steamed and rolled. It shrinks during the process and some of the tensions from weaving get relaxed. It will be difficult to do anything, could gamble on washing the kilt, but need to know your way around washing a kilt and it may shrink.

[Pleater]

I have used some rather doubtful fabrics in my time, and got some sad surprises too, but also learned some useful tricks.

It would probably mean ironing the inside of the pleats but a spray starch could put some body into the material. Iron lightly to set the starch - you should also notice that the iron glides more easily - then use a damp cloth and a bit more pressure and repress the pleats. The creases should not have been obliterated by the ironing.

If you get any white marks on the outside of the kilt then a dabbing with a just wet cloth should remove them - do not rub, just press straight down on the fabric so the moisture carries the starch through to the back.
After the first application a light spray and pressing should remove any wrinkling.

It is rather difficult to sew the outer fold of pleats without creating visible evidence of it.

Narrow strips of heat activated hemming tape in the hidden folds might help, but only 1/4 or 1/3rd of an inch wide, lightweight and in the lower half of the kilt as it could become stiffened and flare out rather oddly if over done.

Anne the Pleater