Homemade Heavy Kilt Pin ready for a Gale

[ronin6290]

A happy Fall to all. My favorite season by a stretch. Speaking of which the Maine Winter winds will be billowing soon. I have been looking for a heavy kilt pin that should hold down my kilt apron in a gale. I found nothing I liked so I made this diddy from a polished river stone and a brooch I found at a yard sale I cut and reshaped. It's still curing up but I'll take it for a spin this week and see how it rides. Pretty pleased with the effort thus far. I intend to make more in different patterns. Hoping to make a trip into the Highlands to collect some suitable river stone before the snows. I used a rare earth magnet for the attachment since it is heavy and I didn't wish to damage the clothe.


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[Chas]

I have always thought that natural kilt pins were most attractive.

[ronin6290]

I agree Chas. Also the ones on the market mostly look the same to me. My old horse blanket pin has more character than most. Not that I've not seen some great ones on here.

[unixken]

Just be careful you don't let these get too heavy. The heavier the assembly, the more stress the pin will create, on the wool. You might want to iron on a patch of some sort, to the back side of the front apron, in the area of the kilt pin, to reinforce the fabric, if the pins get heavy enough to separate the weave.

Myself, I'd prefer to add multiple lighter pins, rather than a single heavy pin.

[ronin6290]

Ken that is a valid point. I did chose a stone that was very thin and flat and the brooch weighs practically nothing. A good thing to be aware of however indeed.

[TheOfficialBren]

Aye. Ken raises a good point.

I was recently gifted two very nice kilt pins made by our own Macgumerait.

They are staghorn with some tasteful Celtic Knotwork. Simple but approptriate for all occasions. The weight is just right.

Weight has always made me shy away from kilt pins for the very reason Ken mentioned.

Do I always wear a kilt pin? No...but I do wear one when I want to look a notch nicer.

[unixken]

Here's an example of my approach. These are some new pins I recently found online, for my new "Leaf Peeper" tartan. I too, expect some breeziness when I wear this kilt in the mountains of New Hampshire in a few weeks, and thus decided multiple pins of normal weight would add some resistance to "fly plaid!"

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[TheOfficialBren]

Bloody gorgeous kilt and pins, Ken! Well done!

[ronin6290]

Looks nice Ken and well suited to the lovely tartan..

[ronin6290]

I do own 4 kilt pins and have worn 2 at times together. I always wear one as I'm often outside and in the hills here it can be quite windy. Two have traditional pin closures which I have kind of shied away from as they did do a bit of damage by catching on objects then pulling at the fabric. I own one other heavier pin which is a heavy coin. I've been wearing it for some months now and have not had any damage. I use tiny thin magnets, about the size of a dime. They are strong enough to hold well but I've never had my apron stick to any other metal like I've heard others say. If it catches on something it simply releases, thus no damage to the kilt. I do like kilt pins because there is room for creativity and self expression aside from being a very functional piece as-well. I really like my stag horn pin also but it does tend to be rough on my kilts so I wear it only on occasion now. This particular one is a tad bit heavier than my coin which was my intention. We shall see how it works. I designed it for casual wear while walking trail here etc,.