proper fell line

[emunro]

Barb, I know in your book that the fell line is 1/3 the way down the kilt from the waist. If one were making a kilt that sat lower than that, where should the fell sit on the body? I'm guessing mid-bum?

[ratspike]

When I ask customers for measurements I have them run a tape from where they want the top of the waistband to the spot where they took their hip measurement to get the fell length. This number is all over the map for me, since some guys want it at their natural waist, others want a hip hugger. The bottom of the fell is always where the hip measurement was taken, regardless of how high the kilt is worn. It generally works out to about 1/3 the length, except for a few very short-felled kilts for guys who really liked them low.

[chasem]

Yeah, as rat said, around the widest part of the hips/bum is where the bottom of the fell should land.

I wear a 26.5" overall length kilt and my fell is 10", a bit more than the 1/3 approximation. If I did the 1/3 my fell would end about 2" above the widest part of my rear.

[emunro]

Thanks for the quick replies. Much appreciated!

[Benning Boy]

For me, the 1/3rd Barb suggests, eight inches for a 24-inch kilt, comes out to being pretty close to what I get based on actual measurement of 7.5 inches. My Kilt Kamp project is felled at 1/3rd, but I think any others I might make, and I hope I will make a few, will be based on measurement.

[Barb T]

Hi all

Main thing is that the fell (the stitched part of the pleats) should end at the widest part of the buttocks - that will let the pleats fall nice and straight to the bottom of the kilt. The general rule of thumb is 1/3 of the total length of the kilt (including the rise). Most of the time, kiltmakers are making kilts for people they've never met - hence the rule of thumb. But, if you are making a kilt for someone "in residence", you could tweak it so that the bottom of the fell lies in just the right place.