Disassembly and enhancement

[Alan H]

"Enhancement"...that's a nice way to put it!

4-5 years ago J. Hockin and I and some others did a custom order of Ancient MacNaughton tartan from Fraser and Kirkbright. I got my 4 yards in good time and it sat in my fabric stash for several years. When I started the process I had the Luminous Joan take my rumpus and waist measurements and I pinned those measurements to the fabric.

Years passed....I started competing in the Heavy Athletics and even more to the point, started lifting weights in the offseason. To be blunt, my rumpus and waist changed, they got about 3 inches bigger. It's actually not fat, it's mostly muscle, but there you go. Did this sink into my consciousness? NO. So when I made the Ancient MacNaughton kilt, I made it to the OLD measurements that were pinned to the fabric. Of course, it doesn't fit.

I wrote about this on the forum about a year ago. All this time, the 7/8ths finished kilt has been hanging in my closet. Now, it so happens that I made the aprons a bit on the big side by about an inch and a half, and the pleated section a bit on the small side. So if I could somehow find some more of the cloth, I could unstitch the reverse pleat in the under-apron and the waistband and put in 4-5 more pleats. Then I could add the new cloth in to create the reverse pleat and the rest of the under-apron. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be quite wearable, since I'd pleated to stripe. I also decided that if I didn't trim out the top of the pleats, then when I was done with the Heavies and my rumpus returned to pre-squat and pre-deadlift size, I could disassemble the kilt, take out the pleats I just put in, and probably keep wearing it.

Well, I FINALLY wrote to J. Hockin and turns out that the gentleman had ordered some extra tartan. YES! I now have an extra yard of half-width. wooohooo. This morning, I ripped out what seemed like about a mile of carefully done stitching, and we are on our way.

I'll post photos of the end product.

[Alan H]

I am DETERMINED to wear this kilt to the Nor Cal Rabble Burns Night, 2015! ***pounds fist on table***

[Tarheel]

Those photos will be worth having, for those of us that will certainly grow as our age lengthens (due to no exercise.) I have faith in your 2015 Burns night quest.

[Alan H]

This weekend I pleated the 'former" underapron and pinned it. That's an oversimplification because I pleated and pinned literally 4x to get it right. I had to rip out two pleats in order to readjust them, and when everything looked good I sewed those two back down. The rest is now on my "in progress" pile with 6 pleats pinned in.

[Elizabeth]

5 days have past... are ye not done yet?