hemming a kilt?

[sirdaniel1975]

I hemmed a kilt of lesser yardage once. It was 24" length and I wear a 22.5" length. It was not hard just time consuming. Although, repressing the ends of the pleats was a pain in the _ _ _ ! They didn't come out right.

I suggest either leaving it at 24" length and just wearing it with a higher rise (like a military kilt) or not getting one at all. Just get a kilt in the length you require.

The problem with hemming a pre-made tartan kilt is, the centered display of the tartan in the front apron... might not look right after being hemmed or might not look as good.

This is just my opinion...

[Livingston]

I sat down and hand sewed the hem on a Stillwater Heavyweight in about 3 or 4 evenings. No, I am not real good with needle and thread. Like Sir Danial says, getting the pleats pressed back properly is not easy.

[Tartan Hiker]

I've done a couple of SWK's. pressing and hand-stitching takes me about 2 hours.

[Barb T]

The problem with hemming a pre-made tartan kilt is, the centered display of the tartan in the front apron... might not look right after being hemmed or might not look as good.

Because a kiltmaker centers the tartan side-to-side and not top to bottom, this isn't really an issue. If the tartan looks "centered" from top to bottom in a particular kilt, it's an accident of the length of the kilt relative to what part of the sett the weaver placed at the selvedge.

Just remember that, to do it right, you really need to do more than just turn up a hem and stitch it. You need to take out the apron and underapron facings first, then turn up the hem and stitch it. And it's best to turn up an extra half inch at the point of the deep pleat and about an extra inch at the underapron edge (tapering to the regular hem depth about 9" from the edge) in order to keep the deep pleat and the underapron edge from sagging below the bottom of the kilt.

Once you have the hem stitched, sew the facings and edges back together again, and BASTE THE PLEATS. It doesn't take long, but it is crucial to getting the kilt pressed properly again.

Cheers,

Barb