Best material for a test kilt

[Barb T]

And I'll toss in my 2 cents. Not only do I agree with everyone about buying the best wool tartan you can afford for your first kilt, but I would buy 16 oz fabric, as opposed to lighter weight tartan. Good quality 16 oz kilting tartan is actually _easier_ to make a kilt from than lighter tartan or cheaper fabric. Heavy tartan doesn't scootch as much, and the stitching thread hides itself better along the edge of the pleats.

So, your first kilt will come out better, and you'll struggle less if you get real kilting tartan than if you go for "test" fabric, lightweight tartan, or saxony from Joann's.

[usonian]

I am by no means a very experienced kiltmaker, but I've made two from Barb's book. I made the first one out of non-stretch denim, following the same reasoning that I didn't want to spent a lot on fabric for my first effort. Denim in particular is really hard to sew and does not drape at all like a 16oz wool tartan... it was heavy and stiff and I never even wore the thing after all the time I spent on it.

Kilt number 2 was made out of 16oz wool tartan from Marton Mills - even with the overseas shipping, the 4 yards I purchased directly from them was really very reasonable; not *cheap*, but nowhere near as expensive per yard as most third-party vendors charge. If they have the tartan you're hoping to make a kilt out of, contact them and and ask for a price sheet. The difference in sewing was night and day, so much easier to fold and stitch (and stitch straight, thanks to the built-in lines) and as soon as I started I wished I could go back to kilt number one and just start with the tartan.

The way traditional kiltmaking works, you can go back and re-do the most crucial steps; so if you finish sewing the pleats and decide they're crooked, or uneven, or came out too large/small at the waist or hips, you can rip your stitches out and do some or all of them over. Once you cut out the excess fabric on the inside of the fell you're past the point of no return, but by that point you'll already have the trickiest, most precision part done and feeling ready for the home stretch. It's a pain to have to go back and redo pleats, but better to spend that time making a nice tartan kilt than spend it working on something you're not going to really love when it's finished.

[Stan]

On eBay UK right now what I think is a good deal on wool tartan. It's a 60 in wide Lindsay tartan in new wool medium weight. I like it and am probably buying 4 miters for my first kilt project. At 28.40 per yard for double width it's priced pretty well and it might fit your needs. Thats about 114.00 for the needed 8 yards to make a nice kilt

Here's the item number, if your interested...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271271841189...84.m1423.l2649

[David]

I can hardy sew on a button, but I'd go with the others and say get the real tartan. I built a cedar strip plank canoe last year but had a trial run using some cheap (£00.00p) white pine. A total waste of time, it behaved nothing like the cedar either when preparing the strips, shaping them, fixing them to the stongback or finishing them with the sander. I gave up and just went for the cedar. I learned more that way too.

[Son of the Rock]

I'm not a kilt maker, but you definitely don't need to save up $700 to get some good fabric. 13oz fabric can be a little cheaper. For example, from Scotweb, you can get 4 metres (double width) of 13oz pure new-wool Black Watch fabric for £85.52 (around $143) woven by British mill BALTI. If you're going for heavier fabric, then, speaking from my experience, House of Edgar's Nevis range is very good value.

[The Wizard of BC]

I'm sorry Son of Rock but there must be some disconnect somewhere. I just went to the site to find the price you quoted and here is what I found



Please notice that the checkout total is $510.00 us dollars. This includes the X Marks discount but before any shipping charges are added.

At $110.00 us dollars per yard this is more than twice what the retail cost is for 13oz wool from Locharron and almost 3 times the cost for the same weight, same Tartan from Marton Mills.

Perhaps you could share with us how you came to arrive at your price. I would really like to know.

[Son of the Rock]

It's just the price that it gave me and is listed when I search it on their fabric page. If I add the 4 metres to my basket, here's what it looks like.

fabric.jpg

EDIT: Actually, if I look at the screenshot you posted again, I think you may have added 4 lengths of 3.7, and therefore 14.8 metres of fabric?

[The Wizard of BC]

I really must be doing something wrong. I enter 4 yards and still come out to $110.00 us dollars per yard for a total of $510.00 us dollars after the X Marks discount and before shipping.

I think if you take the next step to the check out you may find the same numbers.

[The Wizard of BC]

To give you a comparison of why I am so confused.

I retail 4 yards, of double-width cloth from Lochcarron or Marton Mills, in 16oz weight for $287.00 us dollars, plus shipping.
Shipping to almost anywhere in the US is $23.82usd.
And no duty.

I honestly do not understand where people get the prices of $500, $600 or even $700 for 4 yards of fabric. Heck, that is my price for an entire hand sewn kilt, with pockets!

[Son of the Rock]

I still have the same numbers. Here's a screenshot.

fabric2.jpg

In your screen, I see that you have listed the length as 3.7, but you have the quantity at 4. The quantity should be 1, meaning 1 3.7 metre cut. 4 would mean 4 3.7 metre cuts.