Changing length on a wool kilt

[Ugly Bear]

As luck would have it, I now own a fairly light wool kilt which is several inches too long for me. What are my options for changing the length?

Ideally, the kilt will be selvedged instead of hemmed. But now I understand that selvedging is done by the weaver, not the tailor.

Is there any way to "re-selvedge" wool?

Are there any other options, apart from hemming? Will the kilt need to be completely re-tailored?

[Rufus]

Our resident fount-of-knowledge Jimmy gave me some good advice about this a while ago...

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2142

Here's another time it came up:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2110

I hope this helps you Ugly Bear. I had the same thing happen a while ago. They seem to have re-selvedged it when they chopped off the extra length.

[Ugly Bear]

Thanks, Rufus. I did a quick search on "selvedge" in this area, and found nothing. Should've looked for "hem."

Now the real trick: finding a tailor I trust enough to try the paraffin trick.

[Barb T]

Hi Ugly Bear

The selvedge on a piece of fabric is actually the edge of the fabric where the weaver originally turned the shuttle and sent it back across the fabric again. So, if you look closely, you'll see that an individual weft thread actually loops around the very last warp thread and goes back again. So, you can't just cut the selvedge off and re-selvedge it, unfortunately.

The good news is that lots of kilts, even heavy weight ones, have hems. If done properly and pressed well, no one is going to notice that your kilt has a hem. In order to do a proper job, you really need to take out the stitching at bottom of the apron and underapron edges, turn up a hem, and _then_ re-stitch the apron and underapron edges. Also, the hem isn't turned up evenly everywhere. The underapron is turned up about an inch more than the rest of the kilt at the very left hand edge, tapering to the normal hem depth about 9" from the underapron edge. This keeps the corner of the underapron from sagging below the apron edge and showing. Also, the inside point of the very first pleat next to the apron edge gets turned up an additional 1/2" or so, tapering to the normal hem depth where the pleat shows, again so that the point won't hand down and show behind the apron. If that isn't making sense, let me know, and I'll explain it another way. Once the hem is turned up and stitched, be sure to baste the pleats closed before pressing so that you don't muck up the pleats when you press them. Be sure to press both sides of the kilt.

But, before you go to all the trouble to make a hem in your kilt, make sure that it really is too long. Lots of people wear their kilts too low, and they seem too long but really aren't. The center of the buckle of your kilt should be at your true waist (roughly your belly button), and the top edge of the kilt extends _above_ your waist by about 2" in a standard kilt. So, a kilt properly worn is buckled high and tight. If you buckle it on low and loose, it can hang down as much as 2" farther than it's meant to. So, you may be able to save yourself some trouble if you check first! If you have it on properly, the bottom of the kilt should come to the top of your knee cap when you're looking straight ahead.

Cheers!

Barb

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Hey Barb, what ironing methods do you have for the "home body"? I was taught the warm iron... cold iron method for wool, but have heard of a LOAD of other ones.

With the hemming on the kilts here, what can the guy with a typical Sunbeam iron do to make the job flat enough?

This part is NOT something I know anything about. I just head to the dry cleaner and use their press.

[Barb T]

Hi Jimmy!

I suppose there are lots of methods, but I think the general theory is actually related to the structure of wool. It's been awhile since I've thought about this, but I think I have the following more or less right. I hope someone else will set things straight if I'm wrong-headed!! Here's what I remember. Wool fibers (looked at microscopically) consist of a bunch of overlapping plates (kind of like leaf mail armor). When wool gets hot and wet, the little plates lift up. If you rub wool at this point, all the little plates kind of interlock, and, if you cool the fabric instantly, they all lock together permanently (that's what felting is and why felting works on wool but not cotton or linen). So, changing the shape of wool fabric requires conditions where the plates are opened up, you do something to change the shape (e.g., pressing a crease) without rubbing, and then you cool the fabric quickly to set it.

So, for pressing, this means dampening the wool and heating it up, applying pressure, and cooling it down. Tailors accomplish this by soaking a press cloth (either by spraying it or dipping it into a bowl and wringing it out), laying the damp cloth on the garment, using an iron (doesn't even have to be a steam iron if you use a damp press cloth) for generating the heat and forcing steam into the fabric to dampen it, and then pressing hard with the iron (not ironing back and forth). Tailors also use what's called a clapper, basically a chunk of hard wood about a foot long and 4" wide that is pressed onto the fabric after the iron - this helps force the steam into the fabric and it helps cool the fabric to set the crease. Really helps, actually. You can buy clappers at Joann Fabrics, but any chunk of hard birch or maple would do.

So, with your Sunbeam iron, you can do a fine job. Just haul out the ironing board, get a dead pillow case in some light color, dampen the pillow case, and press away. You can do just as good a job as the cleaners will do!

Cheers,

Barb

[mcnice]

nearly all of my kilts got a hem, even a tank. in fact i quite unnoticable, specially when it s stiff worsted wool.
in order to get pleatings on one of my casual kilts sharper, that got wandering pleats (but that has nothing to with casual kilts) i was also searching on an other method to get a selvedge.

geoffrey tailor proposed it to me, not without telling me that it would cost the price of a new kilt. he would also have hemmed it.

jimmy talked about the paraffin, which i m still unable to find down here in europe. also geoffrey never heard from it. so my chances to get some from a eurpean seller are near zero...

my mother made a cut from top of my military kilt. look out if this could work on yours, watch out the breech,
but i would say that is rather a solution for those under ripcage kilts, but perhaps...


then good luck and give me wink if u found the paraffin ;)

[longforgan]

Hi Barbara, on the subject of the back apron being so made that it does not stick down below the front apron; my new p/v kilt has this fault and I think if possible that I should try to fix it my self. Question is, is there an easy fix? (I have a sewing machine and can use it). Also, at the left side, (from the wearer's viewpoint) where the apron goes into the first pleat, there is a little triangle of fabric protruding down. Since the kilt has no selvedge and is fringed with a line of stitching close up to the fringe, I was thinking of simply cutting off the triangle and restitching about 1/4" back from the edge. What's your opinion on this? I plan to get your book which would give me a very good understanding as to the "architecture" of the kilt.(besides giving me the courage to make my own kilt one day!) Where can I obtain it please? Also, with all this talk about ironing kilts, I have the hunch that many of our kilt-fraternity probably have steamers. Not to press the kilt of course but to give a quick treatment if for example, there's a couple of minor creases after travelling in the car of whatever. What do you think of this idea for: #1 wool and #2 other fabrics? Barbara, you are very generous to share your knowledge and experience with us. Thankyou very much. - Alan

[bubba]

Alan, Barbs book is available from http://www.celticdragonpress.com/ . As for pressing and neatening pleats, all you need is a decent steam iron and a presscloth.

[longforgan]

Many thanks Bubba, I just this minute ordered that book; Maybe someday, I'll pluck up your kind of courage and make me a kilt! Merry Xmas to you,- Alan