Preparing for first X-Kilt, measurement and fit question.

[ShirraWhitefur]

Greetings folks!

I've been eyeballing things on X-Marks for the past few years, on and off, pondering on my urge to have a kilt. This year, I've been dabbling with my aunts sewing machine (A lovably powerful Singer 401A), and getting the hang of sewing with it, slowly. My practice stuff hasn't exactly been 'sales worthy', but it has shown that I can at least sew a reasonably straight line most of the time. ^_^

After hunting down the 2nd edition of the X-Kilt manual, I've decided to give it a go, but I have a mild concern. My measurement's come out to 45-46" waist.. and 46" rear. Problem is, that's 'jutting forward' and 'jutting back' respectively, darn pot-belly, not a case of 'no butt' as mentioned by others. I'm wondering if there's anything notable I should keep in mind to try and make the first x-kilt come out better, with this issue in mind, and the fact that there'd be nothing to take in and taper?

I know that my first kilt is going to be fraught with 'issues', and not perfect, but I am aiming for at least wearable in my own home, and confidence building enough to want to make the second, hopefully better kilt. As it is, I've got my black velcro, my black fabric (a cotton type), and my black thread.. so at least covering some mistakes on the sewing side should be easier. ;)

I wasn't sure if I should put this in here, or the DIY forum, but since I have nothing to show yet..

Anyhow, thanks for the time, and thanks especially to Alan for the instructions!

- Shirra

[sydnie7]

We've discussed this before and I'll try to find some more extensive explanation to link for you. But basically, you need to measure your hips to include the "bay window" or jutting out portion as you call it. The front apron should hang straight down from the waist to hem. I do this by:

Imagine you are wearing p@nts that have side seams. Measure the front half of your waist from side seam to side seam. Then loosely measure the rear half of your. . . rear. . . from side seam to side seam. Add those two numbers, and make that your hip measurement.

Make sense? As I said, there's more discussion of this in older threads, I'll see if I can come up with some for you.

[sydnie7]

Right, here's one:
Thread about relative rump vs. waist measure

And check Post 10 of this thread

Hope that helps! Have fun with it, feel free to ask more questions, and be sure to post pics!

[ShirraWhitefur]

Indeed that does help, and quite clearly too! Sorry that I didn't manage to search up the appropriate phrases and find it myself. Right, now I can get back to trying to find the right mood to get properly started, after I do the remeasuring.

Thanks for the prompt reply, as well as the information.

- Shirra