New to forum and to kilt making

[Timothy Goff]

I learned of this thread after buying Barbara Tewksbury's book on kilt making. I have zero experience making anything. Can I do it? Has anyone else been in my shoes? How did it go?

[Father Bill]

Welcome to the "Great Rabble"!

Work carefully and you'll do fine, I'm sure!

[The Wizard of BC]

If I can offer a few hints. We were all new to this at one time. Even those of us who now do this for a living started somewhere.

First - Do not fall into the trap of buying inexpensive fabric thinking that you will use it for practice. Good quality kilt wool is actually easier to sew than less expensive fabrics. Good quality wool will take a nicer pressed edge and in the end you will have something you can be proud to wear. You get the bragging rights to say "I made this".
If you spend your money on practice fabric, in the end you have a practice kilt that you may not want to wear or show off with pride.
And then you have to go buy more fabric for your 'real' kilt.

Take your time - Read the book all the way through. Try to get to the meat of the topic. Find out why there is a stabilizer and interfacing built into the inside of the kilt. Find out why you do a Steeking line.
These little and often missed elements are the heart, the guts of the kilt. Most people do not even know they are in there because they are covered by the liner. But these hidden elements are what make a kilt fit, drape and swish.

If you want to practice your stitching then practice. Practice a lot. Try to make your stitches small, even and with equal tension. Hand stitches should be totally invisible.
Practice keeping the pleats straight and the correct size at the bottom of the Fell and at the waist. If for example your kilt has 24 one inch pleats and you are off in your pleating by 1/16 of an inch you will throw off the final size by 1.5 inches.

Remember, that all the way up to where you cut-away the pleats, the entire kilt can be unstitched and returned to a long length of fabric. You actually can have a 'do-over'.

Remember that we do not iron kilts. We press them. Get a good iron that will produce jets of steam. The steam heats the fibers and then you press straight down. Good quality kilt wool can be shaped and molded into amazing shapes but it does take a good iron and practice to get a clean pressed edge and a good apron shape.

Learn to use a thimble. You are going to be spending a few days pushing a needle through fabric. A good thimble will really save your fingers. It is also how you build speed with your stitching. Sewing with a thimble is actually easier than without. The thimble allows you to stitch in one smooth motion. You do not have to put the needle in - let it go - and them pull it through the rest of the way. The fingers guide the needle to where you want it and the thimble pushes the needle through the fabric. Once you get used to this motion you will find that you can stitch more accurately and much faster.

Learn to baste. Basting holds everything into its proper shape as you move the kilt around and press it. The kilt will probably be hidden under a pressing cloth. You will not be able to see that you are pressing straight and even pleats. Pins leave little bumps and puckers when you press over them. Basting does not. Learn to baste.

And finally, this is supposed to be fun. Making you own kilt takes time, patience and practice. Take a break every so often. Keep the fun in your kiltmaking.

[Tarheel]

Well met Timothy. I can't help with the kilt making issue but those that will are in your corner. Welcome from a member that can sew a button and repair a hole in wool though. Glad to have you with us.

[derosa]

Re-working on one now, should be finished within a week and is looking really good. I would add that if you don't know how to stitch that youtube is your friend. Even with the book I couldn't figure out how a basting, hidden or the stitch stitch used for the pleats were actually done, only ones I could figure out from drawings were the stabilizer. Diagrams aren't something I can work that well with but found videos on youtube that show really well how to do the assorted stitches. I'd also add that there are a few things that Steve who posted above does for his contemporary kilts that do make them a bit better. Check out his forum as well. Either way the results can look good when finished, look through the DIY showroom with a search for taokm or taok and you should get results for ones done based on the book.

[Pleater]

Do try out various types of sewing needle to see which suits best - there are various lengths and thicknesses - I have lots of options and can sometimes take a while to decide if I need long or short, particularly as I make reverse Kingussie style, where the pleats reverse direction centre back and sometimes I need to change needle in order to get the stitches correctly placed in the fabric.

[WillowEstate]

Hi Timothy and a warm welcome from sunny Queensland!

[COScotsman]

from Northern Colorado