Two piece kilt?

[mookie]

I've just bought a kilt and found it to have poor finishing, the hem wasn't finished, the belt loops were not finished and fraying, the front pleat was also not sitting right. On closer inspection i noticed that there was a seam down the back of the kilt where it was joined, this seemed strange to me and other people i know who own kilts, because of this the pattern although even lined horizontally doesnt actually match up. Is this joining a regular practice, the shop owner said it is but could only show me one example out of the whole shop.
I paid £350 just for the kilt so i expected better, anyone have any experience in this? thanks.

[Dirk Skene]

"experience" ? Lucky I have not, But based in the price I'd be raising 4 shades of in 6 languages. My friend, sounds like you got the shaft. Something needs to be done about that NOW. Good luck with it.

[mddock58]

Joining two pieces is very common, but it also should be matched properly, and the seam usually is inside the pleat where it is not seen.

As for the other observations you made, it does not seem like good craftsmanship!

[Erisianmonkey]

I've just bought a kilt and found it to have poor finishing, the hem wasn't finished, the belt loops were not finished and fraying, the front pleat was also not sitting right. On closer inspection i noticed that there was a seam down the back of the kilt where it was joined, this seemed strange to me and other people i know who own kilts, because of this the pattern although even lined horizontally doesnt actually match up. Is this joining a regular practice, the shop owner said it is but could only show me one example out of the whole shop.
I paid £350 just for the kilt so i expected better, anyone have any experience in this? thanks.

The bottom on most tartan kilts is the selvedge edge of the material rather than a hem, so that is not unusual. A seam inside the back is also not that unusual, as double width material is often split and joined together to make a longer piece for kilting. You should not be able to tell this has been done from the outside of the kilt. At all. Your kilt should, from the outside, look like it is one solid piece of tartan. The belt loops...absolutely should not be fraying. By front pleat, I am assuming you mean the deep apron pleat. That could be several things, from the tendency that apron pleats have to kick out anyway, to a sign of a poorly made kilt.

At 350 pounds, I think you ought to rattle the shopkeepers cage just over the belt loops, let alone the other problems.

[mookie]

the seam down the back was noticed as it wasn't finished well so frays were sticking out, also although the seam lined up horizontally it did not vertically ie in the instance of the box and band pattern the box was halfed at the join instead of looking like a continuous pattern, is this incorrect?

The pleat at the front kicked out yes, it also had been pleated twice, it looked like it had been pleated then tried to fix it, although the fix is still crap hence the kick out.

I asked the shop owner for a refund but he said he would fix the problem, i said this was not satisfactory as he provided me with poor goods for the date i needed which meant i couldn't wear the kilt so he was in breach of contract? i just wanted to find out the quality of the kilt espec the join before i get trading standards advice.
sorry if my kilt terminology is a bit confusing

[Tattoo Bradley]

Sorry Mookie, but it does indeed sound like you've been run through on this one. I would certainly demand my funds returned in full...

[flairball]

This is definately one of the cases where you not only want to secure a full refund, but also report this business to whatever business watch group might be operating in your area. There is no need for this kind of decietful behavior. This kilt maker obviously is not a skilled craftsman, and is doing harm to the industry. Though you might want to wait until you've received your refund, making this kilt makers name known in this forum will go a long way in preventing others from experiencing what you have.

[Erisianmonkey]

Get your money back. And let us know what shop this was, so others are warned.

[cavscout]

That's an outrageous price for a kilt of the quality you are describing. If he refuses to refund your payment, show up at the store on his busiest day and calmly but firmly state your case and if a few others happen to overhear the conversation about the issue with the quality he sells...well, he should be motivated to settle the issue. If need be, "offer" to reschedule for another busy day Good luck!

[Barb T]

the seam down the back was noticed as it wasn't finished well so frays were sticking out, also although the seam lined up horizontally it did not vertically ie in the instance of the box and band pattern the box was halfed at the join instead of looking like a continuous pattern, is this incorrect?

The workmanship certainly sounds shabby, and, to my mind, there's absolutely no excuse for poor workmanship regardless of how much the kilt cost.

As far as the join goes, here's some info from a kiltmaker's perspective. Very few tartans are woven any more in single width. Almost all mills weave double width tartan. If someone orders only one kilt from me, I typically have no choice but to buy 4 yards of double-width and split the tartan. If the join is done properly, you will never notice the difference unless you open up the join pleat and really look. So a join is neither here nor there in terms of professionalism of the kiltmaker or the quality of the kilt. I'd say of the past 20 kilts I've made, roughly 2/3 of them have had joins in the back. The only ones that haven't had joins were 1) a kilt made from a custom-weave single width piece and 2) several kilts that I made of the same tartan where I could split an 8-yard double-width piece for two kilts.

Lots of band kilts don't have joins, because bands typically order more than one kilt at the same time. And, if you order a kilt from a big house such as Lochcarron, for example, they might well provide the kiltmaker with an 8-yard piece ripped from a bolt of double-width tartan, because they know that they'll eventually hand the other half to a kiltmaker for another kilt. This is only problematic when the kilt is a very long kilt. If the kilt is really long, there's typically not enough left over for the top band, and the only way to get a top band piece that's wide enough is to start with a double width piece.

A join should never show, and it's best done on the inward-facing side of the inside of the pleat. It should be done with a flat-felled (French) seam so that all raw edges are hidden.

Whether the join is in a full repeat or slightly less than a full repeat is sometimes a balancing act between what doesn't show and what does show. If the person is big, or the sett is big, and the kiltmaker has barely enough tartan, it might be a choice between having one pleat (the join pleat) be a little shallow in order to get one more pleat into the kilt. I wouldn't ding a kiltmaker for making that decision. No one is going to notice if the join pleat is a little shallow. Taken in combination with everything else that is shabby about the workmanship in this kilt, though....

Cheers,

Barb