My first X-kilt!!!!

[RK-REX]

Ok, here goes. I've spent the last couple months trying to find a sewing machine. Finally dug one out of our barn back home. T'was Grandma's, but it was put out to pasture because of some issues it had. (More on that when we need a break in the kiltmaking.) So now that I have a fully functional SM I outfitted my sad excuse for a sewing kit, the remains of Lynn's kit with some new things added and set out for some material. Mind you, to get to this point it's taken at least 6 weeks.

As much as I hated to, a week ago I went into Walmart and perused the 1, 2 & 3 dollar per yard fabric for an hour. I settled on a nice brownish/dark carharttish color. It's 2-3 times the weight of a pair of Dockers. I think it was cotton/poly/twill or something like that. I was going to just buy whatever, but I figured if the kilt came out nice, I'd look funny in green and purple bunny rabbit "tartan". I figure I'll wear this one camping to cheese off my one camping buddy who still thinks I'm weird for wearing a kilt. The other guy will have his own soon enough. So I wanted something heavy enough to stand up to hours of sitting on my **** playing cards and sampling adult beverages and still look decent for the occasional walk around the campground.

Anyway, here it is.
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I'm going to leave an extra 3/8" or so on the end of the over apron and anchor it so when I wash it, I get this same effect. If it gets really ratty over a bit of time, I'll trim it to a nice short slevedge. Speaking of, I decided to leave the selvedge edge since this is more of an outdoor, knock around kilt. Stick with the rugged look. It's kind of funky, but it was $9 what do you expect.
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So tonight, I set out to print the X-kilt manual so I could read it easily and have it handy. I found this old presentation kit in my desk and decided to make it a little booklet. Of course, I fed the paper wrong, so now I have to read from back to front, right to left. I also figured I'd do Alan proud by sampling a different brew each time I kilted. Only if it's past noon of course. Beer before then wouldn't be very appropriate. I'd have Bloody Marys or a Mimosas of course.
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I added both leaves to our dining room table and spread out the cloth. I'm going to figure out the pleats and apron before I even cut anything since I'm going to modify the kilt to my liking. I don't much care for the narrow apron, so I'm going to go with something a bit wider. Closer to a USAK casual. The pleats will be box pleats, but they'll be half the width called for in the manual.
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That's all for now folks, I'll keep you updated as I make progress. I'm not making any guarantees on time as I'm pretty busy this time of year, but I'll try to not drag this out for too long.

[Alan H]

Aw-riiiiight!

I'm looking forward to watching this!

[cavscout]

Have you already washed the fabric (pre-shrunk) . If not make sure you do that before putting the time into marking it up. Sorry if you've already done it, just being a second set of "eyes" Good luck with the project, looking forward to your results.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

Yay! Another "OCD, all the details, here's how I did it", poster! I agree with Cavscout-be sure you washed that fabric (with hot water) and dried on the hottest setting your dryer allows-before measuring, cutting and sewing. This will avoid the shrinkage after you have constructed it.

Be well,

[RK-REX]

No worries Goddess and Cav, always good to hear from the experienced.

I washed and rinsed it (switched the hoses so it'd do that.) in very hot water. Turned the water heater up a couple hours before I washed it. Safe to say it was nearly boiled, then dried it for an hour on the hottest setting.

And yes Goddess, I've got a bad case as well. Too many years writing manufacturing instructions for the aerospace industry. I have to catch myself sometimes becuase I'm get into too much detail. You can probably tell that from most of my posts on Xmarks though.

Can't wait to really get started. I got most of the numbers figured out last night, but my alarm clock goes off at 4:30, so it was time for beddy-by.

[RK-REX]

Ok, I got it all laid out and WAS ready to sew. Figured I'd practice a bit before hand to get my hands back. After about ten minutes of messing around, there was a disgusting crunch from my machine.... I figured out why it was put to pasture in the first place. One of the gears has a tooth missing and every so often, it jumps time crunching needles...

So my X-kilt is on hold until I've got the funds rounded up for a new S.M.

Went to Joann's Saturday and got some prices. Darn things sure are expensive.

I'll bring this post back up when I've got the equipment to finish the job.

[BEEDEE]

Check out eBay - there are about 2000 machines for sale. Go for one of the older all metal machines if you can afford it.

http://crafts.search.ebay.com/sewing...4QQsacatZ28163

Brian

[Alan H]

Ebay...I also STRONGLY suggest ebay. I just bought a machine off of ebay for well under $50, and it looks pretty good...nothing fancy, but it's a Brother (that's the brand) and there' s nothing wrong with this machine at ALL.

[RK-REX]

I'm considering it. I've seen a few Husky Vikings that I really like. My aunt has a 6240 (I think) and it will sew anything this side of hard saddle leather. She's repaired heavy belts and fixed my race leathers for me with it and it's amazing. I'm seeing them for around $150 or so. I'm going through my bike stuff trying to find some things I can peddle an Ebay. I'm building a shop/garage/barn this summer and the funds are tight right now. Maybe while I'm waiting I will buy some more cheap material and get a few more X-kilts cut and laid out.

[RK-REX]

BACK IN BUSINESS!!!!

I got a call from my mom today, she's a notorious antique/junk collector/packratter, and she was at a garage sale and found a sewing machine with a cabinet and wanted to know if I'd like her to buy it for me. She gave me the make/model and I did a quick Google seach and found it to be to my liking. She said she'd tried it out and it sewed perfectly. I hesitantly asked for the purchase price.... $20 A few hours later she pulled into my driveway with my new toy. A 1971 Singer model 252 "Fashion Mate" complete with manual, all it's accessories and a box of sewing goodies. A few minutes with some "409" cleaner and it was looking good. Now I'm getting back on track.

Here she is in all her 36 year old splendor. Hey, wait a minute, I'm 36... Damn good year for a sewing machine.