I finished my first kilt! And it's ruined! (Kinda)

[Barb T]

Ditto the comment about pre-washing. A pre-wash and dry can help you avoid any problems with shrinkage.

I don't make contemporary kilts, so it's not clear to me what caused the fraying. But, if it is a function of the way the kilt is designed (i.e., not a question of workmanship), you can buy something call "Fray-check" that kind of glues the fibers together invisibly.

Barb

[LordDamax]

Hey, imagine that, PRE SHRINK the fabric. Whoah. You'd have thought that I'd have thought of that. Especially considering I MADE the kilt slightly larger than necessary to account for shrinkage. Sometimes my foresight astounds me. ;)

But given how badly the edges frayed, pre-washing the fabric likely would have totally destroyed it. I guess a gentle cycle or maybe just a soak and a dry woulda done it.

Either way, live and learn. Like I said I have a serger on the way which will take care of any future fraying issues.

As for the next one, yeah I may try pre-shrinking the fabric, thanks

[RockyR]

Making a nice looking kilt isn't quite as easy as it seams (pun intended), is it?

To address the point Barb brought up... I've made both (casual and wool) and the fraying is just the unhemmed/unserged edges of the fabric in the wash.

My suggestion (same as Blu's)... Wash the material FIRST and THEN make the kilt. Our carhardt material that we used for our victory kilt shrank something FIERCE. If we cut a 6 yard section and washed it (in hot and dryed in a dryer on high to preshrink it as MUCH as possible), we'd end up with a 5 to 5.25 yard piece (no exaggeration).

To stop the fraying that will occur AFTER you wash it the first time... BEFORE you make the kilt... Use a serger for the exposed edges or hem them. If you don't have a serger and don't want the bulk of double hemmed edges, use the zig zag setting on your machine and CAREFULLY run a WIDE zig zag stitch close to the edge of the fabric (actually sewing THROUGH the fabric on the zig and sewing JUST OVER the edge of the fabric... missing it... on the Zag)

Good luck!

[bubba]

Fray check does wash out. It isn't permanent. There are fabric adhesives used for hemming that cure clear and flexible that are permanent.