Complete disaster

[CMcG]

'Tis a tragedy.

[David Dubh]

Hope the repair works out for you.!!!!!!! Because tou should keep it and wear it for her grad

[BoldHighlander]

I'm sure we've all got disaster stories!

Indeed...but at a time like this its nice to be reminded that your not the only one

[KFCarter]

Josh, that was painful to see.... best of luck with the repair!

[Micric]

Ah, Kids!
I used to go to school with them!
I remember my mother being a bit "dis-chuffed" with me when I burned the old family tea-tray, with family crest in silver...........

Re. the kilt,;
Tailors used to do what is called "invisible repairs"........they'd take strands out of a part that didn't show, and with a needle, weave the damaged area closed.
My grandfather had some trousers to his best suit mended in this manner, after he'd jumped off the bus before it stopped, and had fallen & ripped the knee.
(He was all excited at winning a couple of ducks at the works Christmas raffle!)
You couldm't see the mend when it was done.

Hope it all works out!

[MacLowlife]

Sorry that it happened to your kilt and not her hair. ( We've all seen plenty of those stories.) The hair grows back on its own, but the kilt won't, of course.

I believe, especially if it will cost a fortune, that reweaving or an attempted "invisible " repair is not as good as a cheaper one that celebrates the whole tale. Kilts, like all of the things in the stories above, do get damaged, and not always by someone else. I have fed expensive wool to moths and learned my lesson. We call it character because we have to live with it. May as well get some satisfaction from the frustration.


Now and then, it is worthwhile to be reminded of what is really important and I doubt that it is a bunch of fabric.

[McFarkus]

That is just tragic. I've had good luck with reweaving, but haven't had it done for years. The quote you got seems high to me.

[Lyle1]

My wife has mended tears in woven fabrics with a method that might work for you. You would probably need to go with the embroidery fix first, though to close the slit.

The method my wife has used involves taking a patch of the same fabric and fringing it on all four sides (remove threads, not cut). It's best if you can match the patch to the pattern of the item being patched; in this case, fringe the patch back to match the edge of a stripe. Once you have a patch with fringe on all sides, lay it over the damaged spot, make sure the pattern matches, and start pulling the fringed threads through the fabric, one by one. You are essentially weaving the patch on. It is tedious and requires a good eye. In this case the salvage edge might be a problem, but you could stop short of that edge and only have a small bit of the embroidery repair show. I asked my wife how you secure the the loose threads on the backside of the fabric once the weaving is finished, and she said that you don't, and the patch does not come undone.

I remember the first time she used this method to repair a piece of fabric in a dress she was making. The back side of her piece was faced, so the loose threads were not visible, and when she went to show someone what she did, she had a difficult time finding the patch from the front side of the fabric. It wasn't even easy to detect by feeling the fabric.

[csbdr]

Interesting method, although I wonder if it works better when repairing a hole rather than a clean cut, where you would be adding in fabric where there was none before. Might create an odd pucker? I dunno....

[ronstew]

I think that we place too much emphasis on perfection.

It is a human trait to notice imperfection and to ignore perfection. You never notice that the spelling and grammar in a sentence is perfect, but one mis-used apostrophe immdiately calls the author's credibility to question.

Because we worry that others will see our flaws, we try to do everything perfectly. As has been said before, perfect is the enemy of complete. Further, perfection is the enemy of character. We kilt-wearers (especially those of us with the traditionalist bent) spend far too much time worrying that our sgian dubh is worn at just the right height and that our hose perfectly coordinate with out kilts. Civilian highland attire is not a uniform - it is clothing. There is room for individual style.

Your daughter has improved your kilt. She has given it unique character. She has given it a story. She has given it a non-fatal flaw. She has made it interesting.

You owe your daughter thanks, and she owes you seventy-five bucks.