County Cavan Fabric. Do I have enough?

[Kevin Murphy]

I should rephrase that I have enough(I am pretty sure) to make a 5 yard kilt.

Here are the measurements of the County Cavan 13 oz fabric.

72" x 57"
120x 14"
12 x28"
20x 56"

My question is how likely can a kilt be made from this material?

When splitting the double width fabric how will I attach the fabric properly (I am sure a thread about this already exists) and has anyone here attached multiple pieces together for one kilt?

I wonder if multiple equidistant splits at certain points would help shape the kilt in a good way as opposed to one solid piece, but I would prefer to avoid this of course. Just a curiosity.

[The Wizard of BC]

Kevin, You can't really determine an answer to your question with the numbers you gave.

There are three main factors to determining how much fabric a kilt will need.

1) Your hip circumference.
2) The size of the Tartan Sett.
3) How you want your kilt pleated.

Obviously your Hip circumference has a lot to do with the final size of your kilt. The larger you are the more fabric it will take to go around you.

The size of the Tartan patter and how you want the kilt pleated go hand and hand. Let's say that you want knife pleats to the Stripe. Each pleat will require one full Sett of the Tartan Pattern.
The width of the pleats can be adjusted within a sensible range but the fact that the Tartan pattern is of a particular size is a big factor that a kiltmaker must know.

In general knife pleats are between 5/8" and 7/8" for a traditional kilt. Some have pleats as narrow as 1/2" and some as wide as 1 1/14" but these are about the extreme ranges for a traditional kilt.
A Box Pleated Kilt will have, on average, about 1/2 the amount of fabric in it. We call a traditional Knife-Pleated kilt an 8 yard kilt and a traditional Box-Pleated kilt a 4 yard kilt.

The 5 yard or casual kilts you see today do have less fabric in them but that difference is usually made up by having very wide pleats or cheating how the kilt is folded. The pattern may or may not be duplicated exactly.

About the fabric join. I have seen just about every way two pieces of fabric can be joined used in kilts. The join with the best appearance is probably a hand formed Flat Fell Seam. I have seen surged joins and on some low end kilts a simple, single line of machine stitching. The join is usually hidden within the pleats so it must be planned for when the kilt is laid out.

I notice in your list of fabric length that one 120" long piece is listed as only 14" wide. As the average Full Rise kilt is between 22" and 25" in total from top of waistbanding and bottom of hem this piece is far too narrow to be used. Even a low rise kilt will usually be at least 19" top to bottom. Any shorter or if there is any slope to the kilt the chances of flashing when you bend over becomes a problem.


For a Box-Pleated Kilt you will usually need a piece of fabric 72" long x 54" to 60" wide for a hip circumference up to 42".
For a Knife-Pleated kilt you will usually need a piece of fabric 144" long x 54" to 60" wide for a hip circumference up to 42".

But we would still need to know the measurements of three factors before giving you an answer to your question.

[Kevin Murphy]

Thank you so much for your insight Steve. This is all very helpful. I really appreciate it.

I figured the 120 inch part would be unlikely to serve use for the bulk of the kilt maybe for a waist coat flashes or something. I figured if I were to combine the 12 and cut the 20 in half as well as the 72, I could then have 196 inches by 28(maybe a a bit less based on the cuts).

My measurements are in the 32-34 inch waist range. I am 5'9"

My hips are pretty much the very same


I also think this will be a great learning experience for a friend and I. She is really skilled at knitting sewing and tailoring in general. I just want options I have and anything else that can help.

Again thank ye kindly

I'll get back to ye with the sett repeat tomorrow. It's the House of Edgar County Cavan fabric.

I am open to the stripe, sett, and the random if it looks good. I am open to the box pleat which I have yet to wear! Maybe this will be the first.

Sláinte

[The Wizard of BC]

Kevin,

May I suggest that you invest in a copy of "The Art Of Kiltmaking"
Available direct from the author - www.celticdragonpress.com

It really is the definitive step-by-step guide on the making of a traditional kilt. This would not only have answered your question but given you a far better feel for what goes into making a kilt than any post to an on-line forum.
While X Marks is great, it really is not, and never could be, a course in kiltmaking.

Even if you decide to make a low yardage kilt or even a casual kilt The Book will be the best investment you will ever make in this journey. It does not matter how long you have sewing or how skilled. Even veteran tailors have been surprised by what goes into making a kilt. It is not at all like making anything else and you simply cannot learn how to make one from a few posts or from some three page article on the web.

[OC Richard]

I have some of that mediumweight Cavan. I think that House Of Edgar 13oz is all that's available, in kilting cloth.

The repeat of mine is 6 1/8 inches.

Yes get The Art Of Kiltmaking, it's wonderful!

Seems to me if they can hide one seam in the pleats, which is Standard Operating Procedure, there's no reason that more than one seam couldn't be hidden in the pleats.

[Pleater]

There is no need to worry about joining pieces of fabric to make up the length you need for your kilt, as long as you can lay out the fabric the right way up - so the twill all runs the same way - that's the tiny threads in the weaving which lie diagonally across the cloth - and you have got a selvedge at the bottom edge - or at a pinch can make a neat hem with the pattern all aligned.

A typical length for a kilt is about 24 inches, the lower edge being to the top of the kneecap and the top edge either at the natural waist or perhaps two inches above it - that is the 'rise'. It depends on how you want it to be.

I usually make joins where the inner fold of a pleat would have been with whole cloth. It is possible to make them elsewhere but that is the ideal place.

If you have about enough fabric to hope to make a kilt, you should then try out various placing of pieces and folding of pleats in order to see if it will work.

Should you find that you are short of fabric due to the edges of the pieces not falling kindly to your purpose, you might consider making the under apron from a plain fabric in a toning colour rather than abandon the project.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: