Cotton tartan twill and pleats?

[MacWage]

Guys (and gals),

I am making a cotton kilt out of some of The Scottish Weaver's cotton material, namely in Carolina tartan. It is supposedly 11 or 12 oz. I was wondering how well it holds a pleat. I would prefer making a box pleat (as it would look better for my purposes), BUT am unsure of it would hold the pleats well enough. I DO NOT want to re-iron them every cleaning. Otherwise, I will be making the material into a side/knife pleat, as these are easier to re-iron/press.

What is ya'll's experieces with this material?

Thanks in advance!

[cavscout]

"Cotton twill" as in the material Freedom Kilts make's his kilts out of, only in tartan? (and UK's too )

If so, I never realized there was such an animal.

I imagine it would behave similar to any other cotton kilt (barring the cotton flannel at sport kilts).

You should get with Riverkilt (Ron) and get the 411 on his Super Dooper Handy Dandy Iron less kilt Ironing Hangers. He reports he never has to iron after washing by using them. Some assembly required but not difficult or expensive. They use gravity to tension the pleat into shape.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Many many years ago, before I really knew much about making kilts, I tried making a 4 yard box pleated kilt out of this very tartan material (12 oz. cotton twill from The Scottish Weaver, Carolina tartan).

Let me just say this. Unless you want to iron it after every time you wear it, don't bother. This fabric is great for various uses, but a man's kilt is not one of them.

I saw an 8 yard knife pleated kilt made from the same cloth once, and it looked better than the 4 yard. The deeper pleats held their shape much better. But the owner ended up selling it simply because he never wore it -- he didn't like ironing it after each wearing.

Cotton is great for table covers, lady's skirts, jumpers, shirts, banners, and all manner of applications. But for a man's kilt, stick with wool!

Aye,
Matt

[sirdaniel1975]

Many many years ago, before I really knew much about making kilts, I tried making a 4 yard box pleated kilt out of this very tartan material (12 oz. cotton twill from The Scottish Weaver, Carolina tartan).

Matt, I remember that kilt, it was 1998...

[Johnny Celtic]

Cotton is great for table covers, lady's skirts, jumpers, shirts, banners, and all manner of applications. But for a man's kilt, stick with wool!

Aye,
Matt

What about the cotton canvas kilts? I believe they're 10 or 11 oz or are ya'll talking about a different fabric?

[MacWage]

What about the cotton canvas kilts? I believe they're 10 or 11 oz or are ya'll talking about a different fabric?

I (and Matt) are refering to:
http://www.thescottishweaver.com/cot...aidfabric.html

[M. A. C. Newsome]

What about the cotton canvas kilts? I believe they're 10 or 11 oz or are ya'll talking about a different fabric?

Different kind of fabric. The canvas kilts are made from an army duck cloth. Yes, they are 100% cotton, but it's much stiffer stuff and holds a pleat better.

M

[HeathBar]

MacWage,
Were you planning on hand sewing this beast? If not, you could always machine sew both edges of the pleats. Alan H, describes this in his X-Kilt instructions. Its a useful technique when working with material that requires constant ironing.

[Andrew Green]

How about using this material for a lightweight, easily washable belted plaid? I recall seeing some of the costs for cotton twill fabric from the Weaver, and they weren't all that bad. Now I am curious.

[The Wizard of BC]

If you don't mind a comment from someone who works with non-wool fabrics on a daily basis here are some points.

First, and most importantly, PRE-SHRINK your fabric!
Throw it in the washer on warm or hot water setting.
Then into the dryer on cotton setting and let it tumble until completly dry.

When you take the fabric out of the dryer you will have a pretty good idea what it will look like after every subsequent washing.

After you make the kilt never, NEVER, wash in anything but cold water and NEVER allow the fabric to completely dry in the dryer. Always remove the kilt before the dryer has finished and while still slightly damp. (It should feel dry to the touch but you should feel moisture in the air when you open the dryer.)

Hang up your kilt immediatly! Never allow it to sit in the dryer or the laundry hamper to cool.

If there are wrinkles use a steamer. I much prefer steaming to ironing. In the shop we have a large industrial steamer but you can find smaller portable ones for reasonable prices and some have a finger like pleat attachment.
Hang the kilt from two skirt hangers. One on the front aprons and one on the back. Use your hand to gently pull the pleat into shape while the heat softens the fabric.

If you must iron, remember to align the pleats so the edges are perfectly parrallel. Never allow them to fan out. I find a piece of formica helpfull as an ironing jig. slide the formica under the pleat you are ironing to keep from messing up the pleat underneath.
When I iron a kilt in the shop it takes only about 10 min. and is very easy.

Then again, it's easy to iron my kilts because I sew down the pleats inside and out. The edgestitching is 1/8" from the edge of the pleat and keeps the crease very well.
You can also press in an almost permanent crease by pressing not ironing.
This involves not moving the iron over the fabric but putting the iron down, and leaning on it with your full weight and allowing the heat and steam to sink into the fabric. Then without moving or disturbing the fabric, allow it to cool.
This pressing can take up to a minute for each iron placement. Each pleat can take up to 5 min. to crease this way. 5min X 32 pleats = 160 min or over two hours and that's just for the pleats. It's worth the time.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions please feel free to PM me or send me an e-mail.