Am I on the Right Track for Kiltmaking?

[dwmoffatt]

Hi Mom,
I haven't checked but you might want to look and see if there are any kilt nights planned for your area. Not only a great way to meet the folks here but a nice chance to talk in person and maybe get your hands on a real kilt.
Something I found I did a few times, also, was talking paper and scrap cloth and making a few pleates. Its a great way to get a feel for the measurements and such you are reading about in Barb's book. I found a really enjoy making kilts and wish you the same and lots of luck!!

Happy New Year!

[jgcunningham]

Something that also helped me was to highlight the heck out of the text and illustrations for the sections that pertained to my kilt. By doing that, it helped me follow the directions more closely and see them in sequence. I also kept a sticky tab on the page that I moved as I went along. I put one that said "The End" on the page that says "Yell! Cheer! Have a glass of champagne!" It was exciting to watch the tab marking my progress get closer and closer to the The End. It kind of gave me a jones, come to think of it.

[fluter]

The book is designed to be used as a how-to, open as you work. It's a little overwhelming to read straight through (!) but of course we all did that.

It sounds like you have a good general outline, so use the book to guide the layout of your aprons. The pleats should then fall into place. If there's lots of extra fabric, then you could move the under-apron over & place any extra length at the end.

[Barb T]

Sorry to come so late to this discussion - I missed the original post entirely. Mark's Mom - what questions do you still have that I can answer for you? I'm more than happy to help.

With respect to fixornot's comment that the level of precision expected in my book takes all the fun out of kiltmaking, I'd have to say that it really depends on who you are and what you're trying to make. Personally, the precision is one of the things that I love about making trad kilts, and I know that's true of many others who make kilts. So, far from taking the fun out of it for me, it's what makes me love it. People are just different.

And it really also depends on what you want to make. Do you need all that precision to make a kilt? If you want to make a trad kilt that looks precise and tailored and fits like a dream, yes. It's the same thing that's true of a bespoke suit. But that doesn't mean that kilts can't be made other ways with other looks. But, in writing a book about how to make a trad kilt, it would have been inaccurate (and irresponsible of me) to say that care and precision don't matter when you make a trad kilt.

[Mark's Mom]

Hi Barb T..
Thanks for your reply. I am slowly evolving my expectations and am going to try my best to make a precise kilt. The first step was to get help by signing up for Elsie's Kilt Boot Camp. The second step was to listen to Elsie, and buy 4 yards of doublewide high-quality tartan cloth from Strathmore so I wouldn't self-defeat my chances of producing a good kilt. Third, I have been practicing with a needle, hand sewing a cape out of some low-quality tartan fabric. I am finding out where I am likely to stick myself so I can be ready for Camp. I seem to stick myself in the oddest places that thimbles don't protect, but I figured a roll of moleskin would take care of a lot of that.

I found the supply list in your book and I am checking with others to find out if there are any other suggestions to make my first kilting experience a good one. If you have any additional suggestions, please pass them along.

I wanted to know which kind of leather thimble you recommend, as I have seen numerous styles and have no idea which is most appropriate for kilt making. I usually avoid hand sewing whenever possible, so I am a little worried about sore fingers and poor quality. As a person who has done machine sewing for 50 years, I don't quilt because it seemed tedious to me and I hated fussing over the corners of the pieces matching, so I have a lot to learn. I have a lot of patience in other aspects of my life, so now will be my time to learn patience and precision with sewing. It should be a good challenge for me.

I am glad you wrote a book on the precise way to make a kilt. It will give me a standard for which to strive. Thanks for your advice.

[xman]

The first step was to get help by signing up for Elsie's Kilt Boot Camp.

I envy you this opportunity.

I wanted to know which kind of leather thimble you recommend, as I have seen numerous styles and have no idea which is most appropriate for kilt making.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...thimble-18607/

I actually glued some leather to a plastic quilt thimble.

I have a lot of patience in other aspects of my life, so now will be my time to learn patience and precision with sewing. It should be a good challenge for me.

I hope you will enjoy the 'tedium' as I do. I especially like sewing pleats right now. Personally, I found The Book to be easy to follow and understand. Some questions about 'why' something is done gnawed at me until I saw why and a few still do.

[llyd]

Mark's mom...do a search and see if there is a scottish shop near you..I hit one for some hose the other day and got to look at some (mediocre quality) kilts, and figured out a couple things I was doing wrong...

[Kiltboy]

Mark's mom...do a search and see if there is a scottish shop near you..I hit one for some hose the other day and got to look at some (mediocre quality) kilts, and figured out a couple things I was doing wrong...

I did something similar. I had two kilts at the time, one inexpensive off the rack, one custom. While reading TAOK, I removed part of the lining and examined each. Learned an awful lot. In fact, I took the off the rack kilt and cut out the pleats, added steaking, and even basted it and re-pressed. Gave me practice, and I ended up with a better (and still cheaper) kilt.

[jhockin]

one suggestion: one of the first kilts i made was also 11oz material; I used a triple layer of material, in the 'self-facings', of both the under and over aprons, to discourage 'fly-away' aprons - and it worked, fairly well - a kilt pin also helps a wee bit more.
and one caution: beware of kilt-making - it's habit forming!

[Alan H]

Couple of things.... I would not worry about making a kilt that fits within a fraction of an inch. Last time I checked, peoples shapes change. I know that mine has. If all kilts MUST fit within a fraction of an inch, then mine all stink because I've been lifting weights a lot and my my rumpus and thighs are bigger than they used to be.

If I lose weight, my waist will shrink. The truth is that if someone retains water for a couple of days, their measurements can change by half an inch, even an inch in some cases. So absolutely you should strive to make the kilt fit as best you can, but if it's half an inch off...well....that's what the straps are for.

Secondly, this is not Religion. I'm a big fan of a book on boatbuilding, called the Backyard Boatbuilder, by a curmudgeonly guy by the name of George Buehler. Now, in the boatbuilding world, there's a type of boatbuilder who will sand off six layers of varnish, negating 30 or more hours of work if one single flyspeck imperfection is noticed. Every single joint must be utterly perfect. These guys will take fifteen measurements and cut multiple bevels and use a spokeshave to get every single join *Perfect* in a complex piece of wood. George Buehler says it this way..... "It's a BOAT, not a SHRINE". I note that the president of Nexus Marine says that "the boat school guys drive me insane". Why go through all that when you can take a piece of wood, eyeball it, cut a few cuts and get it right on the belt sander?

The exact same philosophy applies here.

It's a KILT, not a SHRINE. Do your best job, don't be sloppy, don't rush it, but stop far, far short of emotional trauma over whether or not it is PERFECT. If it takes you a hundred hours (seriously) then something is *wrong*. My first hand-sewn kilt, which was far from perfect, took me 47 hours of sewing, most of it by hand. My only wish is that a.) I had done the reinforcing in the cut-out pleats differently....but I could re-do it at any time...and b.) that I had not machine-sewn the far right edge of the over-apron by the fringe the way I did. I now know a trick to machine sewing that down so that it doesn't show (stitch in the ditch) but I didn't know that, then. I could go back and rip it out, but I notice that I haven't bothered.

I will also let you know that as you progress, it will get easier. You first kilt will not be as good as your fifth. So don't flip out. BTW I wore my first hand-sewn kilt, complete with flaws, yesterday. It looks fine....or at least the woman at the checkout stand at the grocery store who flirted with me seemed to think.

BTW, I use pins to hold my pleats in place while I sew them and I have yet to have anybody come up to me and comment that my pleats are puckered. If you don't need to use pins, then more power to ya....forge ahead. Who needs pins? However, if you need to use pins to get your pleats aligned, then use 'em and just remember to pull them out when you're done with the pleat.