Gonna' make a kilt-PLEASE HELP

[NorCalPiper]

Hey Y'all-
Ok....OK.....OK....I've done just about everything in the Scottish arena (Athletics, Competing piper (Grade 2), Country Dance, etc.....Never made a kilt, so I wanna' try. I got Madame Tewksbury's book and the Box Pleat supplement. I got DFT (Or something like it) for cheap and I'm gonna be ready to go. First look is pretty daunting. Should I do an 8 yarder first, or a box pleat first, then an 8 yarder (I'm assuming that a Box Pleat is easier..I may be all wrong about that). Can I rely on tips from you guys who have done it already in case I run into trouble? Thanks-Josh

[Smayniac]

Not exactly the same, but have you thought about making an Xkilt first? Even though it's a different animal, it still helps get some of the geometry down that you'll use on a more conventional kilt.
Just my two cents,
Bob

[Alan H]

Yeah, go get some inexpensive camouflage or solid-color twill, and make an X-Kilt, first. When you've got that in your head, get some inexpensive wool-poly mix tartan, like from Fraser and Kirkbright or even solid-color stuff, and make a knockaround knife=pleat.

THEN....tackle the real deal.

Making the two less-stress kilts first gets the general process in your head, so that the details in Dr. Tewks book doesn't spin your head so much.

[raibeart_dubh]

I'm working on my first right now. It's an 8 yarder in Black Watch. After a couple of read throughs of the book it may seem like a daunting challenge, but it all falls into place and makes sense once you have the fabric in hand and start working.

[ChattanCat]

The box pleat has less pleats - that is good because you don't spend as much time pleating. The rest is the same. I started with a knife pleat and am just starting box pleating. No real answer, just experience.

[attworth]

What kind of background do you have in tailoring? If the answer is none, I'd highly recommend you follow Alan's suggestions. I've made a few X-kilts, started - never finished - a "traditional" box pleat, started - never finished - a "fake tartan" traditional knife pleat. Make sure you have a lot of patience if you'd like a quality end result.

And post pictures when you're done!

[meinfs]

I had no tailoring/sewing experience and yet I decided to tackle the hardest kilt to make (hand-sewn, knife pleats) following Barb's book, and in a difficult fabric - denim. The book is so detailed that that alone will give you the confidence to take it on, and the know-how of the ins and outs of kiltmaking). Anything else you do after a successful attempt will be easier. If you are motivated enough, you will want to do a good job. Good luck.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

I agree with all the above suggestions. My first kilt was an imitation of a SportKilt, knocked off in an afternoon. Then I made a few X-Kilts and X-Kilt/Skirt variants (some turned out better than others). Then, and only then did I finally tackle a "real" (i.e. traditional, by the book, Barb T., Elsie S.) kilt.

I am now starting my second kilt a la "The Art of Kiltmaking" and it's a bit easier this time around. Still a bit nervewracking, because I worry about ruining expensive tartan.

Of course I'm left handed which requires some tweaking of the directions.

Get your feet wet with something simple, or just jump right in. Most importantly...Have FUN! The book is definitely well detailed enough that you should be able to make a kilt with almost no sewing experience at all-just read and re-read before you CUT anything!

Good luck and happy basting!

Be well,

[fluter]

MY first was an X-kilt with machine, second was hand-made 8 yard with cheap, sleazy fabric. That boosted my confidence no end, but going to good wool required some adjustment to technique.

If you have sufficient stubbornness and good bachelor-level sewing skill, you will be able to do this. You have some fabric that sounds pretty decent, but you are not risking a lot of cash outlay.

The difference in a 4-yard box pleat (vs. 8-yard knife) is that the pleats will typically have more that twice as much taper per pleat in the box-pleat. We're trying to get the same amount of taper in far fewer pleats. The layout on your tartan sett may make this trickier, or may lend itself well to the box-pleat. Pin it up and see.

The knife pleat makes it less tricky to sew each pleat, but there are a whale of a lot more of them! But as we implied, you have the desire to do this, you have showed the ability to develop skills requiring much practice, and you may have a genetic predisposition to (shall we say?) determined perseverence. So, you can do it! Pin up the fabric each way, and make a choice.

[Dixiecat]

I'm not sure why people tend to think that the 8 yard kilt is the last thing to make. In my opinion, making an machine-made x-kilt will not really help you in the long run to make a hand-sewn garment. It's almost two different skill sets. You can be a terrible machine sewist and still be able to sew quite well by hand AND vise versa. (I can machine sew and hand sew very well, but am a crappy knitter....) Anyway, there's absolutely no need to build up to an 8 yard kilt by making an x-kilt then a solid-colour, etc. If you really want to make an 8 yard, then by all means do so.

This is what I would recommend:

-practice your hand-stitching first; look up all the hand-stitches that are used in the AoK and spend some time with each of them; get used to holding a needle, wearing a thimble and holding the fabric as you sew.

-forget about the cheap fabric and use some real wool tartan fabric. If you find that your results are less than stellar and you never want to finish the kilt, I'm sure someone here will take the fabric off your hands - as long as you haven't cut the fell, you should be fine. There's no real substitute on how wool really sews up. Even BarbT recommends this.

-use an uncomplicated tartan such as an Erskine, or Cunningham; pleating and tapering become far less of a headache when you use these tartans.

-take your time, don't be afraid to 'unsew', even the most experienced sewists have to do this.

-keep in touch with your xmarks family for words of encouragement