Tartan kilt #2 nearly done

**Alan H** · 12th November 06, 01:20 PM

I bought some budget grey/blue 10.5 ounce poly/wool from Fraser and Kirkbright to practice pleating to the sett before I jumped into the X-Marks kilt. First off, let me tell ya, pleating to sett is a lot harder than pleating to stripe!

It's kind of funny to look at the kilt. The tapering gets better as I moved along from one side to the next. However, this thing still has "the wavies" pretty badly and some of the pleat stitching shows. This is in part because the fabric is kind of flimsy and in part because...well, because I'm only SO patient and this kilt was for practice.. It doesn't look BAD, it just doesn't look great.

Anyway, it's a 6-yarder with 24 pleats, plus the reverse pleat and I wasn't as accurate as I should have been, 'cause it's a bit small 'round the rump. I made the apron about an inch wider to help compensate and it's OK, but not the greatest. The thing is perfectly wearable, it's just nowhere near the quality of the commercial kilts I have.

It's also a fair bit too long. I'm not sure why. I'll have to go back to my original dimensions and see what I did. for now, I'll have to hem it. **le sigh**

Anyway, one last buckle strap to go, and I can slap it on. I'll post pics when it's done, but before I hem it.

**Kiltman** · 12th November 06, 02:31 PM

Alan, I share your problems with the sewing of the kilt. Barb gives specific directions on how to do it properly, but some of us guys can't quite do it her way. I'm still struggling with an alternate way of making sure "the waives" don't happen. My last attempt has gotten much better. Stretching the tartan and using Barb’s suggestion about off-setting the tartan to compensate for the way one sews is really helpful.
I hope someone can give a good suggestion about alternative ways to sew.

**Alan H** · 13th November 06, 11:58 AM

I went and looked at my initial notes for this kilt. I see what I was planning on doing.

LESSON: Refer to original plan for kilt often, during construction.

Ah,well...it'll look just fine, hemmed, it's just about 4 hours more work.

**JimB** · 13th November 06, 12:34 PM

I'm looking forward to seeing it Alan!
I know that pleating to stripe was fairly easy but I'm still scratching my head over that pleating to the sett stuff.

**chasem** · 13th November 06, 01:38 PM

can't wait to see the finished project either.

I haven't tried my hand at pleating to the sett yet either. three kilts so far, all three to the stripe. I'm looking forward to trying it, but I'd rather start with a fairly simple sett first.

**David Dalglish** · 16th November 06, 01:17 AM

Its a must see Alan

**Alan H** · 25th November 06, 09:19 PM

Pictures are over in the pics forum...look for the November Bay Area Kilt Night thread.

**gilmore** · 25th November 06, 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by Alan H

I bought some budget grey/blue 10.5 ounce poly/wool from Fraser and Kirkbright to practice pleating to the sett before I jumped into the X-Marks kilt. First off, let me tell ya, pleating to sett is a lot harder than pleating to stripe!

It's kind of funny to look at the kilt. The tapering gets better as I moved along from one side to the next. However, this thing still has "the wavies" pretty badly and some of the pleat stitching shows. This is in part because the fabric is kind of flimsy and in part because...well, because I'm only SO patient and this kilt was for practice.. It doesn't look BAD, it just doesn't look great.

Anyway, it's a 6-yarder with 24 pleats, plus the reverse pleat and I wasn't as accurate as I should have been, 'cause it's a bit small 'round the rump. I made the apron about an inch wider to help compensate and it's OK, but not the greatest. The thing is perfectly wearable, it's just nowhere near the quality of the commercial kilts I have.

It's also a fair bit too long. I'm not sure why. I'll have to go back to my original dimensions and see what I did. for now, I'll have to hem it. **le sigh**

Anyway, one last buckle strap to go, and I can slap it on. I'll post pics when it's done, but before I hem it.

The wavies don't seem to be as bad as you describe them. I probably wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't mentioned them, and so I was looking for them. I thought that perhaps it was that some of the pleats had wrinkled----you said it was a 10.5 oz blend.

As to the length, it looks as if you are wearing it a bit low, beneath your navel.

It looks like a great 2nd attempt. WTG