Just a quick note about true traditional kiltmaking. When Matt says "a very full day", he means a _really_ full day. If a kiltmaker does not cut corners, does _all_ of the traditional interior construction, and stitches the pleats with fine, close stitches, it is just about impossible to make a kilt in less than 18-20 hours.

I've been making kilts a long time, and I am no slow poke. But I take my kiltmaking very seriously, and doing a really good job on the pleats can't be done at much more than 5 pleats an hour unless the kilt is a small one. That's 5-6 hours just for the pleating. Yes, you can do it faster, but that means fewer stitches with gaps between the stitches, and I'm not satisfied with that. Yes, you can skip the steeking, or the basting to hold the shape, or the rows of tailor stitching to hold the interior canvas, but the kilt won't hold its shape forever. This all takes time. You can save some time by using a machine hemmer if the kilt needs a hem, and you can put the top band on by machine without anyone being the wiser, but using a machine on any other part of the construction shows, and a traditional kilt is a hand-made garment. So....

Anyway, I just wanted you guys to know that, if someone makes a trad kilt by hand, if the workmanship is fine, and if they do all of the interior construction that's supposed to go into a kilt, it is _not_ a 5 hour job, nor is it even a 12 hour job. It is truly a 20 hour job, and that's for someone who works fast, efficiently, and skillfully. First-time kiltmakers learning the process almost invariably take upwards of 40 hours, so you can see what a difference experience makes and realize that someone who takes 20 hours to make a trad kilt is really smoking along in the sewing department.

Frankly, that's what it takes to make kilts that look and swing like these do and and will look like these do for 20 years:

Barb