A kilt from leftover fabric

[Pleater]

Yorkshire folk have a reputation for being thrifty, and I have been wondering how to use the leftover pieces of cloth from the middle when the two selvaged edges have been removed to make kilts.

I have been giving myself the luxury of a continuous strip for each kilt, where possible, and so I have strips 7 to 8 yards long, and 56 or 60 minus (2x24) wide - 8 or 12 inches. As the cloth has been bought off eBay, and/or as a bolt, I have some full width left overs too, in some cases.

Assuming that the kilts were 24 inches long, where the pattern allows - (I don't think it will, for instance, work very well on fabric with a strong selvage to selvage stripe or design) the strips can be used as the outside of the pleats for another kilt.

I can cut it into 4 inch strips, maybe do a bit of shaping at the fell, then fold the edges over and maybe interface them - so there is no ridge at the edges when pressed and the strips are heavier. Then take some lighter material and sew the strips down onto it, then fold it to box pleats, or knife pleats as desired.

The thinner fabric would only need to be from the hem to the bottom of the fell - with a bit extra as overlap. It could be held in place horisontally using 'wonder web' - the fine double sided hemming tape you melt with an iron, so there would not be a line of horisontal stitching across the strips.

Now, 8 yards, 24 ft, divided into 24 inch lengths would then give 12 strips of 4 inches, if from a 56 inch wide cloth.

If it was from 60 inch cloth then 3 of the 4 inch strips could be cut from the leftover piece, and 12 inches would just about do a narrow apron.

If there was not enough spare whole fabric to make at least the over apron then the under apron could be just the lighter fabric, perhaps lined, and the over apron could be strips of the heavier fabric joined almost edge to edge over a tape, with a narrow piece of the light cloth sewn down to cover the raw edges.

This is probably going to be more useful with a 60 inch wide fabric, or with shorter lengths than 24inches being taken off, but it is a possible source of an extra kilt from expensive material.

[Alan H]

OK, I'm scratchingmy head over this one..... If you have 5-6-7 yard lengths of 24-inch wide fabric,you're set! No piecing together!

But you know that, so I'm sitting here confused.

[Pleater]

I think I'm not being clear enough what you get at the end - you sew the strips vertically onto a light material which will form the back of the pleats, like some of the box pleated kilts I have seen photos of here - there were some of a kilt with alternate coloured pleat backs, one in black with white backs, and a quartered apron.

You would piece strips together to make an apron, if all you had left was the narrow strip, or maybe make aprons from half a yard of spare material.

To make the outer, visible part of the pleat, I'm suggesting 24 inch by 4 inch strips, sewn edge to edge at the top, but with a continuous strip of a thin fabric attached from fell to hem to make the rest of the pleat and to enclose the turned under cut edges of the thicker cloth.

[Yaish]

So its basically a tartan cover for a kilt made of lighter material underneath?

It would probably work, but I'm not sure it would look too good from closer than ten feet away. Thats a lot of stitching for each piece, which is going to affect the look and the swing of the kilt pretty seriously.

IF I understand you correctly, that is.

[Pleater]

I don't think it would always work for a tartan unless you were lucky about where the pattern and the central strip occured.

I was thinking of something like a box pleated kilt in a plain or small patterned material.

However - if you could get a strip which was two setts wide rather than one central one and two halves - and a backing fabric which was a toning colour it might work.

Although the result might not have the swing of a knife pleated kilt it would be

a) a cheap kilt
b) certain to move in some way, just differently
c) eyecatching if the backing was some strong deep colour,

I have a strip of black fabric 8 yards long and wide enough for two outer pleats. There is also a left over piece of the whole fabric, several yards long.

I have several pieces of light fabric which woud be a suitable backing - I will have to chose between them and see how this works out in practice.

I will have to work on my photographic skills which are, at present close to zero, and then I will be able to give a better ideal of what I am making.

[Yaish]

So you have a strip that is maybe 8 yards long, by perhaps 8 inches wide? You also have a strip that is the full 28 inches or so wide and a few yards long?

Is that right?

And if I understand correctly, your plan is to use the full width piece to make the apron and under apron, attach to that some light weight material to complete the 'body' of the kilt with pleats, then cut the narrow strip into strips as long as the kilt and as wide as a single pleat right?
Then sew those strips onto the lighter material to give the appearance of uniformity?

If I understand correctly, its not too far off from how a Utilikilt is made, or one of Jeff's two toned Pittsburgh Kilts. Skip the backing material and sew the strips together directly, and you pretty much have it.

Uk's are made with each pleat being one piece of material as wide as the inner and outer pleat, sewn to the next pleat on the two inner edges, and then having the pleats outer edge sewn into the folded material.

It could work, but by flipping the thing strips vertically you are going to have cross patterns in the weave of the material, regardless of pattern or color. It would be better if the material was all the same grain in orientation, but it sounds like it could work.