Thoughts on PV characteristics?

[Stiavo89]

I recently picked up some PV material with the thought of making an X-Kilt with it. Can anyone with more experience handling this material tell me how it will hold up? I like the thought of machine washing and drying, but my concern is that the fabric might not have the same strength across the pleats in the fell. Should I plan to line the fell and/or waist with some form of canvas for strength, or will my bar-tacks provide enough holding power? If I just forge ahead and mess this up, I'm only out $25 plus my time, so I'm not too worried! (This would be a good time to refer to T.A.o.K., but I've dropped a few scattered hints about that as a father's day gift, so I'll have to wait until June for that!)

Thanks!

[Hothir Ethelnor]

First off. Where did you get your PV?

and what do you mean by bar tacks? I only use those around the belt loop hole.

Most people sew the edge of each pleat from the top of the kilt about 1/3 of the way down.

If you want a nice 8 Yard traditional kilt you will want to cut out the backs of the pleats above the hip line, and sew in hair canvas. With less yardage you might be able to get away without interfacing by leaving the inside of the pleats intact.

[sydnie7]

Hothir, you are talking apples while OP is talking oranges. Steve wants to make an X-kilt, which has bar tacks along the fell of a box-pleated, machine-sewn design.

Steve, how heavy/thick is your PV? I have made X-kilts from denim and from a cotton/nylon camo similar to denim weight. Many folks have worked in cottons and blends that are "Dockers-like" in weight. You will be sewing through many layers of fabric, so durability shouldn't be an issue, as long as you have followed the fabric recommendations in the X-kilt manual.

Have fun and let us know how it goes!

[Hothir Ethelnor]

Ah sorry, an X kilt.

I have only made more traditional kilts with PV.

If your PV is Marton Mills quality it should be pretty durable. On USAK casual kilts the top is hemmed like the bottom before pleating. The top hem is deep and makes it so there is an extra layer of fabric up in the pleats making it more reinforced.

I've never made an x-kilt but I think a similar plan could be adopted.

[Pleater]

Make sure you have enough ease in the measurements - it seems to age man made fibres faster if the garment is tight.

The threads seem to move slightly too - so where it is sewn you gradually see a deformation.

I don't mean that you need to be able to slide your arm inside the kilt, just be sure that when you are sitting, striding about etc. that it is not under tension.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Stiavo89]

Thanks for your input! Walmart in my area had a Maple Leaf tartan in (what feels like) ~10 oz PV. At $8.34/m, I figured I could afford to screw up $25 worth of fabric - and if I got too worried, I would wait until I got my hands on a copy of TAoK and then use Matt and Barb's addendum to make a (cheap/practice) traditional box-pleat kilt -- in a non-traditional fabric!

I am going to make at least one more x-kilt in poly-cotton twill before I tackle the pattern of the tartan, just to better wrap my head around the whole process before I start playing games with adjusting the size of the pleats from a nice, standard, 3 inches! I have laid out the tartan and messed around with the pleating already - it has about a 5-1/4" sett, so I will probably pleat to the stripe on every 2nd sett, making my box pleats approx 3" across (better math will happen before layout, I promise!)

[sydnie7]

Be aware that if it is truly Maple Leaf, it is an asymmetric sett -- so you need to work with a full length, you can't cut it in half and seam it in the middle. There are lots of threads here discussing Maple Leaf considerations.

I don't recall anyone ever talking about finding tartan PV at Wally World in any sett, much less Maple Leaf -- nice find!

[Hothir Ethelnor]

I used a half length of tartan when I made a PV kilt. It is possible but harder.

[Stiavo89]

Be aware that if it is truly Maple Leaf, it is an asymmetric sett -- so you need to work with a full length, you can't cut it in half and seam it in the middle. There are lots of threads here discussing Maple Leaf considerations.

I don't recall anyone ever talking about finding tartan PV at Wally World in any sett, much less Maple Leaf -- nice find!

It is an asymmetric sett - I noticed that as I was playing. It has a strange fringed selvedge that I will need to cut off and hem; and the sett is small enough that I will be "discarding" > 2 full heights of the sett, so joining the 2 pieces should be possible - and if not, I'll knock it into something usable! I bought it on impulse to throw together an x-kilt, but if I can make it look good too, well that's a bonus!

[Friday]

First off. Where did you get your PV?

Hothir I have found Tartan PV at Joann Fabrics, They normally carry red and black Steward and I have found other plaids that cycle through. Last year I found the Cunningham Tartan in Joann's school plaid PV selection.