Revisions for The Art of Kiltmaking

[Peter C.]

Hi Barb,

My estimation of the number of pleats was way out! Your eexample suggested needing 36inches for aprons and 36inches for facings etc. for a 36inch waist kilt. I assumed that for a 40 inch waist kilt you would estimate 40inches for aprons and 40inches for facings. I had about 6yds of fabric. I took 80inches for aprons and facings and divided the balance by 4 (4inch sett) and got 33. So 33 pleats. I decided to pleat to the sett as I thought I would get slightly deeper pleats. I realised that I would have slightly fewer pleats by pleating to the sett but was suprised when I marked it out and only had 23 pleats. This meant that the pleat size at the bottom of the fell would be 1 inch.

I have been using a cheap piece of fabric just to learn the techniques of kilt making. The fabric I have bought for my first selfmade kilt is 4yds of 16oz double width MacGregor Modern which is a simple tartan which will be best pleated to the line. I think that may also be a little easier.

The kilt I wear for piping was made by Kinloch Anderson in Scotland. It is a beautifully made kilt. It seems from their label that they make kilts for the Royal Family.
What I thought might interest you Barb, was the way they stitched the join.
They trimmed the fabric so that the join fell on the inner fold of the pleat. Then they stitched half an inch in from the raw edges and overlocked the raw edges together to stop them fraying.

I tried to post this yesterday, but it doesn`t seem to be there so I am trying again.

Since then I have done some more work and have a couple more points you may be interested in.

This kilt will have a hem, sowhen it came to `finishing the bottom edge` I went straight to Option B without reading Option A. Option B paragraph 1 says `If you are holding the kilt with the top to the left, the underapron is the farthest away from you`. I had just finished stitching the join, so the top of the kilt was to the left but the kilt was wrong side up. I realised that the apron that was farthest away was the overapron, so I turned back and read Option A. In Option A you do say that the kilt should be right side up. Reading on in Option A, in paragraph 2 you say- fold the lower edge of the kilt, tapering from 7/8inch to nothing, then baste about 1 inch from the selvedge edge?

I hope this is the sort of feedback that you want Barb. If I am knit-picking please tell me.

Regards

Peter

[Barb T]

Hi Peter

This is great feedback - thanks!

The approximation in the chapter on how kilts are constructed was actually never intended to allow you to figure out how many pleats you'd have for a kilt. I'll make sure that it's clear in the second edition! And, truthfully, I should really change that chapter to say 36" at the _hips_, not the waist, because that's the determining measurement. So, thanks for pointing me to what I should rewrite with that.

The only way to figure out # of pleats is to actually lay out your tartan and figure it out. 23 pleats isn't horrible by any stretch of the imagination!

And thanks for the Option A-Option B part that I need to clarify.

Cheers,

Barb