Hi, folks.

I hope this is the appropriate forum for my post - I think it needs some thought by the experts. I'm going to start working on my first kilt soon. I was going to just buy a bespoke kilt, but I'm on a weight loss program, and don't want to spend that much money on a kilt that will not fit me properly in a year. Making my own would also teach me a lot about kilt construction, which will make me better informed when I do order the custom one later, so I don't see any major drawbacks to the plan.

My questions are: I know that the straps can be adjusted to compensate for a bit of weight loss, but it seems that is somewhat limited. I'm trying to think of other ways to fairly easily adjust the kilt to fit better and keep it balanced, and one thought is that I could make it with two pieces of fabric that are stitched together in the middle of the pleats, such as when making a kilt out of full width fabric, and then removing that center pleat later.

Is this feasible and worth the trouble?

Secondly, right now my waist measurement is approximately the same as my hip measurement, and I anticipate that I'll lose more belly fat than hip padding over the next year. From what I've gathered in my reading, that can be difficult to adjust for. Is there a strategy for building that kind of capability into a kilt?

I hope the answer to my questions is not "make it to fit you now, then make another one in a year", but if that's the case I can accept that. I'm going to make this first kilt out of lower cost material than 16oz tartan wool, for the very reason that I might "undergrow" it and end up replacing it.

I wear a Utilikilt now, and I like it, but I want a more traditional style kilt that sits higher.

Slàinte!