Is my kilt "off"?

[CBH]

OP - this is a lot to take in. Sorry for your plight !!

In all honesty though, I still struggled to see much wrong with it.

I'm sure it will not be easy nor cheap to get the kilt back to the maker, get them to re-work it - and hopefully fix it and not make something else worse - all in time for the wedding.

Good luck with your decision.

[Pleater]

I thought from your posts that your middle name was "the" as above.

Ah that is just the honorific given to survivors - you might look up Terry Pratchett's Cohen the Barbarian for comparison if you are not already familiar with him. Just don't look at him funny - Cohen that is.

Anne the Pleater

[Kouzfot]

As a total perfectionist when it comes to what I make, I have to say I would not expect anything that I produced to require pressing to make it look correctly made.

It looks as though the pleats are not joined to the inner structure of thee kilt correctly - perhaps it was placed on a support slightly off true before sewing together and now the inner part of the pleats are being drawn to the left - and is the distance to the left of the centre line narrower than that to the right? It might just be the camera angle but I'd be reaching for my micrometre.

I'd advise approaching the supplier again and putting the point to them that you do not have the skills to correct whatever error has occurred and it seems a little strange that it should be down to you to make it right.

Anne the Pleater

Hello Anne, and thank you for you reply.
This might be a stupid question, but as this is my first kilt, and I have no one around me to ask.
Distance to the left of the centre line narrower than to the right; to you mean measured from the left side of the pleat to the centre of the ruby red stripe and same from the right. Do you mean at the top of by the waist, where the pleats come loose or at the bottom?

I've measured the centre pleat. From the side to the ruby red stripe

Picture 1, waist:
6mm on both sides.
topleft-min.jpgtopright-min.jpg
picture 2, fell line (is that whats it's called? where the pleat come loose):
left: 8mm as it is, (10mm if i pull the pleat to the left towards the left). right: 10,5mm
middleleft-min.jpgmiddleright-min.jpg
picture 3, 11cm up from the bottom:
left: 14,2mm. Right: 10,1mm.
bottomleft-min.jpgbottomright-min.jpg


perhaps it was placed on a support slightly off true before sewing together and now the inner part of the pleats are being drawn to the left
Not sure i understand what you mean. When you say the inner part. Are you referring to the back side of the pleat?


If there are any other pictures from other angles, just ask and I shall provide

Thanks again!
K

[Pleater]

I meant the area of the distortion, the centre line looks to be off centre, over to the left, as though the back of the pleat was sewn to the interfacing out of alignment.
That could happen if the kilt and linings were not lying true during the sewing together.

It is not a huge and glaring error, but I am surprised that it was considered adequate.

I am an utter perfectionist - I once took apart an entire garment for three misplaced stitches, but I would go back to the maker and see if there is someone more senior than the person suggesting that you try to press out the problem, or get more informed advice on just what and how you have got pleats on the skew.

Anne the Pleater.

[Kouzfot]

I meant the area of the distortion, the centre line looks to be off centre, over to the left, as though the back of the pleat was sewn to the interfacing out of alignment.
That could happen if the kilt and linings were not lying true during the sewing together.

It is not a huge and glaring error, but I am surprised that it was considered adequate.

I am an utter perfectionist - I once took apart an entire garment for three misplaced stitches, but I would go back to the maker and see if there is someone more senior than the person suggesting that you try to press out the problem, or get more informed advice on just what and how you have got pleats on the skew.

Anne the Pleater.

Ah, I think I see what you mean now.
The center line — the central pleat — appears to be skewing to the left.

I’ve taken another photo with a folding ruler for reference. I assume you're referring to how the vertical stripes are drifting left?
It looks like the center pleat is already leaning before it even reaches the fell line.

20250615_231848.jpg

If that’s the case — would fixing it require taking the entire kilt apart?

Taking it back is not just heading down the street, it's a 2 hour flight

The person I've been emailing with is the manager of that branch.. As far as I understand it, they don't make the kilts on-site. But I would assume he knows what he is talking about.

Thank you again for your feedback!

K

Edit: forgot picture