Help with beginner kilt

[pdcorlis]

The best part is - its your kilt and you made it with your own two hands - good for you! If you stick around here for a while you'll learn lots of cool kilt stuff to help you on your way!

[ChattanCat]

Keep in mind that Steve is a kilt maker, so he notices things most people would miss.

Who's Steve? My name is Wallace...

Umm...explain that statement please? It confuses me.

But yes, I pleated it like a Great Kilt. Do the pleats go in a specific way? And I put seven pleats in the kilt...how many is "normal"?

Thank you all for your help/encouragement. It makes me feel good, and gives me good ammo for the misses.

~Yeti

I shall try to explain. Most fabric is made with the thread going over one thread and under the next... this is the standard weave. Tartans are made with the thread going over two threads and then going under the next two threads. This gives the tartan a distinctive angled look to the weave, or twill.

Most fabric you find, cotton included, is weaved under then over so all the threads weave the same and you get a more consistant look, like a shirt weave, very close and over/under.

Hope this helps.

Wallace

[MacWage]

twill lines look like:
\\\\\\\\\\\\
(looking at the colors mainly)

A good belted plaid instruction site is:
http://www.theweebsite.com/greatkilt/index.html
Belted plaids are NOT exactly pleated (more "gathered"), nor sewn, nor "ironed."

For a ren-faire, a belted plaid is really all that is arguably "in period," as it is first certainly recorded in 1594. The "kilt" in ANY form that is ONLY waist-down is from around 1700 at the earliest and little like the modern knife pleated kilt even then.

There are a NUMBER of X Marks sponsors who make "inexpensive" kilts, inc. USA Kilts for "traditional" tartans and Freedom Kilts, for a traditionally cut "modern" kilt (look at what he makes and that makes PERFECT sense).

[cavscout]

Welcome to the neighborhood

For a Ren Fair you'll be just fine. But to present the best appearance in a kilt I feel it's important to have a kilt with the pleats sewn down to the hip. This presents a much crisper appearance and keeps the kilt from looking "skirty".

Do the research here to find the right kilt for your needs and wants. There are all types of kilts to choose from.

I bought my first kilt and paid around $80 for it. That kilt is now used as pajamas and never makes it out of the back yard. for another $30 I could have gotten a USAK Casual that looks fantastic or even for the same money, gotten a Stillwater Standard. Don't get sucked into just buying based on price. Weigh out the quality, price and selection to ensure you get a kilt that will look great as well as really enjoy wearing out and about.

[Alan H]

Just so's you know, heavier cloth hangs better,pleats better and makes a much nicer great kilt. Lightweight cotton just doesn't do as well. Also, you really need more like 4 yardsto getenough pleats,etc.to makeaGreat Kilt...that'd be double-width cloth...60 inches wide.

On the other hand, most Fair'es are in the heat of the summer and blanket-weight wool will kill ya. My faux great kilt is cotton, as well.

[The Wizard of BC]

OK, my turn to add total confusion to the question about twill lines.

With Tartan fabric it is sometimes hard to tell right side from wrong side. On some Tartans you can see at the selvedge edge that there are tiny threads sticking out where the weft threads were turned to form the selvedge. This is the wrong side.
If you can't tell at first glance, lay the fabric out on your table with the selvedge edge towards you. If it is correct side up the lines formed by the Twill weave will go like this \\\\\. If the wrong side is up the Twill lines will go /////.

It's not hard to tell right from wrong sides when looking at most fabric store fabrics. Most Cottons, Poly/Cottons and denims have a definite wrong side. On the wrong side there are no twill lines at all.

In Cotton, Poly/Cotton and Denims when you lay the fabric out on the table with the selvedge toward you the Twill lines will go like this /////.

I've never heard a good explanation from a weaver why this is so. And some fabrics can be ordered in left and right hand Twill. This may be one of those times when the correct answer is "That's the way we've always done it."