Freedom Kilts reviews a Stillwater

[The Wizard of BC]

One of my customers came into the shop a week and a half before the Victoria Highland Games and wanted a kilt for competition. There was no way I could make him one in that time so I thought "What a great time to order one of Jerry's Stillwaters and find out what all the hoopla is about."
So I called Jerry and ordered two Stillwater Standards in Nightstalker Tartan.

I've had a couple of days to look it over and here is my review.

The Good;

Jerry is a joy to work with. He answers the phone and answers e-mails promptly. Even though I knew the timing was very short Jerry went out of his way to insure the kilts went out the next day. I asked him to ship via international Express mail and the kilts arrived in 9 days.

My customer was very satisfied with his kilt. He wore it to the games and knew that if he destroyed it he wasn't out too much money. And that is exactly what he wanted.

I have to admit that for the money the Stillwater Standard is a good knock-about kilt. It's overall look is very much kilt. No one is going to confuse this with a skirt, Goth costume, bathtowel or tablecloth.

The stitching is tight and even. It is very evident that the folks who sew these are accomplished machine operators.

The fabric is soft, has a slightly fuzzy feel and wrinkles steam out in nothing flat. When delivered, the two kilts I ordered were packed in one large envelope and were quite badly wrinkled, but a quick couple of shots of steam and every wrinkle fell right out.

The outer apron is finished with a double fringe. Each 3/4" wide and set off the look nicely.

The Fell is sewn firmly and tapered nicely.

The buckle tabs are sewn tight and they took care to match the pattern of the Tartan nicely.

There are two sporran loops that are huge. A full 4" long. They also match the Tartan pattern well.

The strap hole on the left side is executed very nicely. The welt is made from lining fabric and nicely done.

The waistband is 3/4" wide and they matched the pattern of the Tartan very well on the outer apron.

There is a full lining of a soft almost satin fabric. It is 14" deep.

The Tartan (Nightstalker) is quite nice. It is very attractive and will go well with a lot of accessories and different looks.


Now to the bad; And please remember that I am a kiltmaker and was looking at this with a very critical eye.

This is a very light weight kilt. I did a comparison with the other kilts I own of the same general look. Please keep in mind this is a comparison of fabric weight only. All the kilts are the same size.

Stillwater Standard in Acrylic = 1lb. 13.8oz.
USA Kilts Semi-Trad in Poly/Viscose = 2lb. 8.4oz.
Freedom Kilts Dress Model in Poly/Cotton = 3lb. 8.4oz.
Barb Tewksbury 16oz. Lochcarran Tank = 3lb. 14.6oz.

At half the weight of my Semi-Trad the Stillwater seems fly-away and the first time I went outside in it I was very glad I put on a big, heavy kilt pin. I felt naked and exposed.

The pleats of the Stillwater vary somewhere between 5/8" and 1" reveal. They attempted to pleat it to the Sett but there is no consistency to the pleating. I also noticed that the edges of the pleats are not pressed straight. Now remember, this was "as delivered" and the basting stitches were still in. I found almost half of the pleats with as much as 1/4" curve to them. Were the lines of the Tartan are near the edge of the pleat this is very noticeable.
The apron edges take a sort of snake like curve. I will need to re-baste and re-press the entire kilt. The first time I put it on and turned and looked at the rear in the mirror I saw a stage curtain rippled effect of the entire pleated area. Both sides of the apron also kick out badly.
Now all of this can be helped with a careful pressing and I may not feel so bad afterwards.

The pleats are not cut away in the Fell area. This causes the waist band to be over 1/2" thick. It feels bulky and cause the lining to bunch up.

There is no rise built into the kilt. The taper continues all the way to the waistband.

There is no steeking. This will cause the pleats to lose their shape quickly so carefull pressing will need to be done.

The lining is not sewn down at the bottom. I had a lot of trouble with it bunching up at the waist. Every time I re-tucked my shirt I had to reach up under the kilt and pull the lining down.

The straps and buckles are the second thing I will need to change after re-pressing. The straps are as thick as what I'm used to but have a very flexible and flimsy feel to them. They only have four holes. The cast buckles have already been cut off. The edges are sharp and unfinished from when they were cast. I'll take them home, smooth the edges with emery paper and re-buff them.


Well, that's my review of my Stillwater Standard. All in all this is a good garment for the price. I would never attempt to wear it as semi-formal or even day-wear with a jacket but for competing in games, walking the dog, knocking about and wear with a t-shirt and sandals it is perfect.

There is one other note I'll make but the final outcome will need to wait till I've had some time with the kilt. I did two quick destructive tests on the Acrylic fabric. If you're a smoker make sure you watch your ashes. The fabric is very sensitive to flame and sparks. The other test was to see how the fabric pilled. I took a piece of canvas and rubbed for ten minutes and the pills were as large as green peas. Now that's a pretty harsh test. Time will tell.

Would I buy another Stillwater? Yes. When this one falls apart from abuse.
Would I recommend Stillwater to my customers? Yes, as long as they know what they are getting for their money.
I've bought nylon sporrans from Jerry and I love them. The entire experience of buying from him is outstanding.

[cloves]

That's a great review Steve. Very informative.
I think Panache said it best when he said "stillwater=value." Like you mentioned, you can't beat a real wool heavyweight...but for the cost of a Stillwater, you get a heck of alot of kilt. Perfect for knocking about. And you'll waaaaay better then those mactablecloth dudes.

Now that we've got that out of the way......i have to check my mailbox....I'm waiting for my second Stillwater to arrive!!

[Kid Cossack]

Well said, Wiz! I think I've moved passed them, but I've gotten a ton of good wear out of Stillwater kilts. They were my first "buckles and straps" kilts, and from the initial hunting Macleod I stepped up to the heavyweight line. The heavyweights are still fairly lightweight, and if the pleats were cut out at the fell it would be a great hot weather kilt. However, with the "butt pad" in place, I heat up quickly in the SWKs. The Newsome tweed and USAK Leatherneck feel entirely differently back there.

[McMurdo]

Great review Steve, the only problem I see with ordering a Stillwater for myself is that I am vertically challenged and the 24" drop is about 4" too long.

Having said that, I recently ordered a Stillwater economy for my nephew he just wanted something inexpensive to sit behind a drum kit with. Well as someone who has only had 16oz wool kilts Handsewn from Scotland, I was not sure what to expect. I was very impressed with it, and my nephew loves it and has worn it out not just for siting behind the drums.

[Freedomlover]

Thanks for the nice review, Steve. One question: what is "steeking"?

[The Wizard of BC]

Steeking, from the Gaelic for "to stitch". And from the Canadian for "Nya,Nya, it's my secret and I'm not gonna tell ya.

Actually it's a line of stitches in the pleats at the bottom of the Fell area. They are done on the inside and support and lock-down the opposite side of the pleat from the side that is sewn when you taper.

Without Steeking, the inward portion of the pleat is not supported and will distort out of shape by it's own weight.

The lack of Steeking is usually a dead give-away of an amature made kilt, a very cheap kilt, or one that was rushed to keep costs down.

For a better explanation please see "The Art of Kiltmaking" by Barb Tewksbury

[Fearnest]

Steve, thanks for a great, detailed, and very fair and honest review!

[turpin]

This is the first review of a Stillwater that I can remember by a professional kiltmaker. Based on my one SWK Standard and two SWK heavies, it is a very FOX TV review (i.e., fair and balanced). Perhaps even foxier than FOX. If I had two things to change number one would be to cut out the pleats, and number two would address the bunching of the waistband lining. (3 would be better apron shaping).

I seem to recall Jerry saying that a steeking line isn't needed if the pleats aren't cut out because the full pleat width is sewn into the waistband, whereas with the pleats cut out the inside edge of the pleat is not supported, andsteeking is needed, as well as a stabilizing cloth sewn to the cut out part.

It's all about how much labor is needed to make a decent product and still hit a profitable price point. I think that comes across in Steve's review. Kiltos to ya.

[RockyR]

Good review Steve... sounded fair and balanced to me as well. I'd also applaud you for (what seems to me) to be an accurate and fair review of another kilt company's product without trying to sound like you're putting them down or trying to "upsell" your product. Kudos.

The only thing I'd disagree with is what turpin pointed out...

I seem to recall Jerry saying that a steeking line isn't needed if the pleats aren't cut out because the full pleat width is sewn into the waistband, whereas with the pleats cut out the inside edge of the pleat is not supported, andsteeking is needed, as well as a stabilizing cloth sewn to the cut out part.

I don't steek our Semi Trads, Casuals or 5 yarders b/c we don't cut out the "pleat innards" either. The main reason you WOULD cut out the innards is to reduce bulk in the waistband. Since some fabrics are thinner than others or you use less material, a thick waistband is not always a problem. Women's kilted Skirts don't have their "innards cut out" either and aren't steeked and they don't droop.

I agree with Jerry (who Turpin quoted) on that point that steeking is done to re-inforce the pleats when they're cut out. If you DON'T cut them out, the whole depth of the pleat is supported by it being sewn into the waistband, therefore your pleats won't "droop" over time.

I'd be curious... Do Barb or Matt have a take on this? I'm looking at it from an construction / engineering standpoint, which I'm sure you can appreciate, Steve (for those of you who don't know, Steve knows "a little bit" about engineering). Keep in mind... these aren't "traditional handsewns".

[M. A. C. Newsome]

When I make a 4-yard box pleated kilt, I don't cut out in the inside of the pleats, because there is no need to. My point of reference for these kilts is always the historic kilts that I've had the benefit of examining first hand. None of these had the pleats cut out. Again, there is no need to.

On a 4 yard kilt, the pleats are not deep enough to overlap one another much, so usually you only have about 3 layers of thickness of the cloth. It's enought to provide some body without being bulky. For the same reason I also don't put in a full canvas lining in the back. I don't need it. Because I didn't cut out all the pleats, the heavy weight wool that I usually use (even the medium weight) has enough thickness to maintain the shape of the kilt. (I do put in a 2" wide strip of canvas at the waist line to add support where there will be stress from the straps and buckles pulling).

When I make a 5 yard knife pleated kilt, it's a judgement call. Usually I leave the pleats whole and intact. However, on some men, with some tartans, the pleats end up being deep enough that there is considerable overlap at the waist, and if I feel the bulk is too great, I'll cut away the pleats.

I would never do any kilt with more yardage than this without cutting away the pleats, as it creates far too much bulk in the back. I noticed the same thing about the Stillwater kilts I've been able to examine in person. The back is almost cushion-like. I've also seen some amateur made kilts with this same problem.

~M