Really REALLY heavy: too heavy?

[Kid Cossack]

Ladies, gents, rabble and rabblettes:

I'm sold on the wool. Used to be, I was convinced---convinced, mind you---that there just had to be a better material for kilts, among other things, than wool. Now, however, I have changed my mind. Tartan worsted? Tweed? Sign me up!

When I was reviewing the Harris Tweed Shop's list of tweeds (which can be found here: http://www.harristweedshop.com/tweed-index.html ), I noticed that some of the tweeds were, well, heavy. The Harris tweeds are 19/20 oz. and the Keepers tweeds up around 26 ounces.

Shazam!

Well, I imagine that an eight yard tank in 26 ounces would either be ridiculous, or sublime. A shorter yardage kilt, however, like a four yard box pleat, or a five yard Kingussie . . . Would that work?

Sometimes my good ideas are bad ideas, and sometimes, just every so often, they're good ideas.

Would the 26 ounce Keeper tweeds be suitable for a Kingussie or box pleated kilt?

[McFarkus]

I have one of What Price Glory's 22 oz Seaforth Highlander military box pleat kilts. It is heavy, almost like blanket weight, but great this time of year.

[Standard]

I'd vote for sending the 26oz to Lady Chrystel to have a "Bunker" made out of it. Sounds like just the stuff for a cold day on the plains with the wind blowing. It would certainly be a warm one. However, I can imagine it weighing a ton.

[Riverkilt]

My leather kilts weigh about six pounds....but can't get them in tartan without some tedious painting.

Ron

[auld argonian]

I guess that I'm just not getting the object of your desire here...

...are you looking for a very heavy kilt with the intention that it will keep you warm or are you asking whether or not that heavier weight stuff is too heavy to make a kilt out of?

Best

AA

[Nighthawk]

My leather kilts weigh about six pounds....but can't get them in tartan without some tedious painting.

Ron

On a serious note, I personally can't wear anything heavier than a 16 ounce material. 22 oz sounds like 5 yards of pure hell to me. If you do get something made from that heavy material, please post a review- I'd be very interested to read it/.

[McFarkus]

On a serious note, I personally can't wear anything heavier than a 16 ounce material. 22 oz sounds like 5 yards of pure hell to me. If you do get something made from that heavy material, please post a review- I'd be very interested to read it/.

It's 8 yards not 5. Perfect for a Chicago winter (thought I've worn it in summer too).

[Nighthawk]

It's 8 yards not 5. Perfect for a Chicago winter (thought I've worn it in summer too).

Oh! My mistake! So is this a Dante-esque comparison of the levels of Hades? Denver ain't all that warm either, but I have great internal heat.

[Kid Cossack]

In inverse seriatem order, I shall address my correspondents!

auld argonian: In my experience, up to 22 ounces/linear yard, the rule for wool is "mo thicka, mo betta." Pleats are "pleatier" and hang is "hangier", while wrinkles are "less wrinklier." I am mostly curious as to whether there is an upper limit. It is not so much warmth I seek, but a sturdier, lower maintenance kilt. (Plus, I find some of the Keepers tweeds to be simply smashing in appearance.)

Ron: Aye, those leather kilts of yours have caused many an appreciative comment. One of these days . . . .

Standard: Lady Chrystel is edging her way onto the list of "people from whom I must have a kilt." I am unfamiliar with the Bunker model, but fear that a 26 ounce/linear yard weight could be "too much of a good thing" (disregarding Mae West's famous comment) in a double box pleated kilt. Since I have one tweed, and one tartan, box pleat from Matt Newsome, and since Barbara Tewksbury made an absolutely smashing box pleat for my brother-in-arms, currently serving as Platoon Sgt at the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Lejeune, I was thinking of turning to Mrs. Tewksbury for this one.

McFarkus: I've got a Gordon from WPG (and replaced the straps/buckles). I love it's weight, but the apron seems a bit annoyingly "fixed." For me, based on the puny attempts at kiltmaking which I have done, I find my preferences to run to a slightly smaller apron (perhaps 3/8, vice 1/2) and a goodly final reversed pleat, for easier "sprawl" capacity.

In general: I have sewn up a pair of kilts, one in Fraser and Kirkbright 16 ounce, one in an unknown tweed. The F&K is Kingussie-style, the tweed a monstrous mish-mash of knife pleating. Each is slightly over four yards, neither has any interfacing, nor straps. (They must be "belted into submission.") They are very definitely "proto-kilts" but I get a kick out of wearing them, they have served as test-beds for determining my own, slightly bizarre, tastes and preferences.

My preferences run to "three layers" of wool, and a somewhat unstructured appearance. Perhaps this is an evolutionary thing, reflecting my quite limited sewing skills.

And I do like tweed, oh yes I do.

[kevinkinney]

Howdy all,

I've made 12 to date, and the easiest to stitch, and by far the best I've felt about my work have been a box pleat in regimental weight Mackenzie, the same in Douglas, and a knife pleated beast in the Seaforth. These are at least 19 ounces per square by my postal scale, though I suspect just a bit heavier.

The hardest fabric to stitch, and the ones that require the most maintenance are the feathery 10 ounce fabrics. They were not a bargain after all, but they are wonderful colors and comfy in the summer.

I'd love to get something in a 22 ounce to play with. Me and my trusty industrial iron will beat it into shape.

Cheers,

Kevin.