Face to Face Help Ironing Kilt (CT)

[Kamilavalamp]

Hey Guys,
Are any of you guys in CT?
If you are I would like someone to show me face to face how to Iron the pleats flat on my kilt. A few of them are starting to lose that sharpness.
I've read the tutorials here on it and watched some videos but I don't feel confident doing it myself unless I see it done in person first so if anyone is close enough and willing I'd sure appreciate a little help. I'll pay ya for it too if you want.

[The Wizard of BC]

Do you have Skype on your computer.

I often use Skype. I turn my web cam on and talk a customer through something they do not understand.

I have given kilt pressing classes, basting classes and general maintenance classes over Skype.

If you would be interested my Skype contact name is thewizardofbc or Freedom Kilts.

I'm on the pacific coast so my time zone is GMT -8.

[plaid preacher]

Jeff, by all means give Steve a call, he can walk you through the steps of basting..something I'm still not great at.

I fear you may have the devil's own time pressing your kilt, as I think it may have a label on the inside that reads "The Kilt". These kilts are made of acylic and do not press terribly well. The heat needs to be low. I happen to own one I wear for knocking around, and while I do enjoy it for that purpose, it has had a wrinkle across the front apron that has been there since I received in and I have still never been able to dispatch the thing.

I hope I'm wrong about this...but I have my suspicions.

Best of luck

Robert

[Kamilavalamp]

Jeff, by all means give Steve a call, he can walk you through the steps of basting..something I'm still not great at.

I fear you may have the devil's own time pressing your kilt, as I think it may have a label on the inside that reads "The Kilt". These kilts are made of acylic and do not press terribly well. The heat needs to be low. I happen to own one I wear for knocking around, and while I do enjoy it for that purpose, it has had a wrinkle across the front apron that has been there since I received in and I have still never been able to dispatch the thing.

I hope I'm wrong about this...but I have my suspicions.

Best of luck

Robert

There's no acrylic in my kilt so I don't think there should be any problems.

[plaid preacher]

There's no acrylic in my kilt so I don't think there should be any problems.

Then Bob's your uncle. It will look super once it gets a lick of the iron. Talk to Steve. He'll give you good advice.

[The Wizard of BC]

Kamilavalamp,

If the kilt you are having trouble with is the one you purchased at the Ren Faire from American Highlander then yes, your kilt is made from Acrylic. The tag will say Acrylic Wool or Synthetic Wool.

These fabrics are notorious for not holding a crease. They also pill with just a few wearings and the shape will distort very quickly because they have no internal construction at all.

[Kamilavalamp]

Kamilavalamp,

If the kilt you are having trouble with is the one you purchased at the Ren Faire from American Highlander then yes, your kilt is made from Acrylic. The tag will say Acrylic Wool or Synthetic Wool.

These fabrics are notorious for not holding a crease. They also pill with just a few wearings and the shape will distort very quickly because they have no internal construction at all.

Jumpin John Barleycorn!!! I just looked at the label and it says 80% Acrylic 20% Wool. What do you mean by internal construction? This Kilt looks and feels very thick and hearty.

[New World Czech]

I fear you may have the devil's own time pressing your kilt, as I think it may have a label on the inside that reads "The Kilt". These kilts are made of acylic and do not press terribly well. The heat needs to be low. I happen to own one I wear for knocking around, and while I do enjoy it for that purpose, it has had a wrinkle across the front apron that has been there since I received in and I have still never been able to dispatch the thing.

I hope I'm wrong about this...but I have my suspicions.

Best of luck

Robert

Robert,
If your kilt is like mine, same label, then I have been able to press on medium heat with a wet towel or pillow case between the iron and fabric and have had no problem removing wrinkles or setting pleats. The difference being a heavy polyester acetate rather than a light acrylic. Our kilts are sometimes falsely advertised as polyester viscose.
Give the higher temp setting with wet towel a try on the under apron of course and see how it works.
Kevin

[The Wizard of BC]

The internal construction I refer to is the main part of making a Traditional or Contemporary Kilt.

Fabrics such as wool, or even more so the Acrylic/wool blend of your kilt, are actually very weak. They both stretch and will permanently distort under stress.
This is often seen at the apron edges where the straps are.

So Traditional and Contemporary kilts are constructed differently than blue jeans. Jeans rely on the strength of the fabric itself, and the lines of stitching, to impart the strength to the garment. Jeans always seem to wear out in the fabric areas, not at the seams.

This way of making clothing involves adding internal strengthening components of interfacing and stabilizers. The interfacing is usually of Hair canvas and gives vertical stiffness. Sort of like boning in a corset.

Stabilizer gives strength horizontally. Stabilizers usually span the the back of the kilt from buckle tab to buckle tab and in a Contemporary kilt span the entire width from outer apron strap to under apron strap.
The stabilizer is what resists the stress of strapping on the kilt and the stress of moving in the kilt.

In a Traditional kilt the inside of the pleats is cut-away to keep the back portion thin where all the layers overlap each other. This cutting away, along with the hand stitching, is a potential weak point so we truly need the internal construction.

Many kilts have a piece of fabric inside that is called a lining. On the less expensive kilts this lining does nothing. It serves no purpose other than - traditional kilts have a lining - if we put in a lining - it will look like a traditional kilt.
In a true traditional kilt this lining is there only to cover and hide the internal construction. It serves no purpose on its own. It is just there to make the inside of the kilt neat.
(Some people are under the impression that the liner is to keep the kilt clean. Well, if that were true the lining would be removable and washable.)

As an example of what can happen to a kilt without the internal construction, and some details of what the internal elements look like, may I please direct you a thread I did a few years ago.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=70205

You can also do a search of the forum because I and other kiltmakers have posted similar threads. Some titles are "Inside another company's kilt" or "Surprise inside another company's Kilt."