Two piece kilt?

**mookie** · 4th May 07, 06:05 AM

the seam down the back was noticed as it wasn't finished well so frays were sticking out, also although the seam lined up horizontally it did not vertically ie in the instance of the box and band pattern the box was halfed at the join instead of looking like a continuous pattern, is this incorrect?

The pleat at the front kicked out yes, it also had been pleated twice, it looked like it had been pleated then tried to fix it, although the fix is still crap hence the kick out.

I asked the shop owner for a refund but he said he would fix the problem, i said this was not satisfactory as he provided me with poor goods for the date i needed which meant i couldn't wear the kilt so he was in breach of contract? i just wanted to find out the quality of the kilt espec the join before i get trading standards advice.
sorry if my kilt terminology is a bit confusing

**Barb T** · 4th May 07, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by mookie

the seam down the back was noticed as it wasn't finished well so frays were sticking out, also although the seam lined up horizontally it did not vertically ie in the instance of the box and band pattern the box was halfed at the join instead of looking like a continuous pattern, is this incorrect?

The workmanship certainly sounds shabby, and, to my mind, there's absolutely no excuse for poor workmanship regardless of how much the kilt cost.

As far as the join goes, here's some info from a kiltmaker's perspective. Very few tartans are woven any more in single width. Almost all mills weave double width tartan. If someone orders only one kilt from me, I typically have no choice but to buy 4 yards of double-width and split the tartan. If the join is done properly, you will never notice the difference unless you open up the join pleat and really look. So a join is neither here nor there in terms of professionalism of the kiltmaker or the quality of the kilt. I'd say of the past 20 kilts I've made, roughly 2/3 of them have had joins in the back. The only ones that haven't had joins were 1) a kilt made from a custom-weave single width piece and 2) several kilts that I made of the same tartan where I could split an 8-yard double-width piece for two kilts.

Lots of band kilts don't have joins, because bands typically order more than one kilt at the same time. And, if you order a kilt from a big house such as Lochcarron, for example, they might well provide the kiltmaker with an 8-yard piece ripped from a bolt of double-width tartan, because they know that they'll eventually hand the other half to a kiltmaker for another kilt. This is only problematic when the kilt is a very long kilt. If the kilt is really long, there's typically not enough left over for the top band, and the only way to get a top band piece that's wide enough is to start with a double width piece.

A join should never show, and it's best done on the inward-facing side of the inside of the pleat. It should be done with a flat-felled (French) seam so that all raw edges are hidden.

Whether the join is in a full repeat or slightly less than a full repeat is sometimes a balancing act between what doesn't show and what does show. If the person is big, or the sett is big, and the kiltmaker has barely enough tartan, it might be a choice between having one pleat (the join pleat) be a little shallow in order to get one more pleat into the kilt. I wouldn't ding a kiltmaker for making that decision. No one is going to notice if the join pleat is a little shallow. Taken in combination with everything else that is shabby about the workmanship in this kilt, though....

Cheers,

Barb