Newbie with diy question

[Mipi]

Hi to all!

Where I live the kilts are seen on TV only, so I must admit I haven't try to go kilted in public, yet. Guess I'm not Man enough to to this, but I'm working on that. This is more to avoid pressure on my Family and not so much for my own reasons.

I made my first kilt form dark blue fabric, which used to be a part of Aikido gear (plus some left-overs). The instruction from X-Kilt were used. The final product was not so bad, but the fabric wrinkles so much that I should take an iron wherever I go. So it can't be used really.

Now I bought a sort of Camo fabric (forest) which is very light-wight. What I would like to do is light-weight summer kilt, box pleated, with sporran in same fabric (to be used as a side as a pocket or in front as a sporran). Maybe even a basballcap or hat in the same design.


My question is; what can be done to keep the kilt from rising in the wind to much? Velcro on the hem of apron,...?


Thanks!

P.S.: Sorry for speling errors. English is not my native language.

[Jock Scot]

Welcome,from Inverness-shire.I am not meaning to be unhelpful, but I only know about traditional kilts made from heavy weight wool,they do not blow in the wind.I am sure you will have some very sound advice given here before long.

[JerseyLawyer]

from New Jersey!

A kilt pin might help hold the front apron down. If you use fabric that requires a hem, the double weight at the hem might hold it down, too? Our kiltmaking experts might be more help with this than me.

[sharpdressedscot]

Welcome from North Carolina!!

[Tartan Hiker]

With light weight fabric a good option is to use knife pleats instead of box pleats. This will add mass to the rear of the kilt because you'll use more fabric. I've found that using 5 or 6 inches (12-15 cm) of fabric in each pleat provides enough mass without being too hot. I have a 38 inch (96 cm) waist, and my hiking kilts take a bit more than 5 meters of fabric, and have about 20 pleats with a 1.5 inch (4 cm) reveal at the hip and a 1.25 inch (3 cm) reveal at the waist.
You have the X-kilt instructions, which are great for teaching you the basic "philosophy" of kilt making. If you understand how to make a box-pleat, you can easily handle a knife pleat. Also, make the apron wider (one-half your waist dimension) as if you are making a traditional kilt.
I just laid out a camoflage hiking kilt last night, and was going to take some photos for my own records of the marking and folding process. If you'd like I will post those photos to show you how I make my pleats. There are also other threads here that discuss knife pleating.
A sporran, properly weighted with your usual gear (wallet, keys, etc.) and a handful of coins should prevent the front aprons from flying up far enough to be embarrassing.
Cheers,
TH

Oh, and welcome to X-Marks!

[Tartan Hiker]

And Jim's liner idea is a good one if you don't want to always use the sporran. You only need to line the inside of the under apron, that way you don't really have to worry about what it looks like since no one will ever see it. If the over apron flies a bit, no problem. Use nice soft material since that will be against your anatomy. I've done this with cotton knit (t-shirt material) and it works well.
Be sure to wash all the fabrics well before putting them together so that you don't have a problem of one fabric shrinking more than the other! Stitching the liner only along the top and about half way down the sides, leaving the bottom unstitched also helps with possible shrinkage issues.

And back to your original post...never use velcro or pins to attach the aprons together. It may seem like a good option, but it doesn't work at all. The aprons need to move past one another as you move.

[michaelbeeman]

Welcome from Northern Colorado!

[JimB]

First off, welcome to Xmarks from Salt Lake City!
As to your lifting problem, you could easily fix that permanently by sewing in a full liner to your apron. Just get some fabric remnant at the local sewing shop and sew it in. White might work, or maybe black, whatever you think will look best.
It will add heft and body to the apron and that should do it!
I speak from experience having used very lightweight stuff to make my first kilts.

[JRB]

Welcome form Albany, New York. You should be able to find a lot of resources on this board. The amount of talent represented here is very impressive.

[Dirk Skene]

Your english is fine. from Memphis, Tennessee. Home of the blues & Elvis.