Polyviscose Pleating...how to keep 'em?

[ruxpin76]

Greetings! I just completed (and ironed extensively) my first kilt, a Hamilton (Hunting, modern). Hamilton's an interesting tartan, having 3 wide bars of color of equal width crossing conventionally between each white stripe. In my case, dark green back, white stripe, blue stripes (navy where they overlap). So, I pleated to stripe, and really like the 15 or so 1" pleats I have (trad. style pleats).

The problem is that it's a 11 oz. 20/2 cotton and I'm concerned the pleats will fall out relatively easily. Any tips for keeping them in better? Starching?
Hidden stitching? Just leave 'em and hope for the best? What do the rest of you with poly kilts do?

FYI, I lined the front overlap with a double layer to make it heavier, worked a charm and served as a great "liner" too. I'll post pics when I get a digital camera.

Can't wait to get a dirk now that my targe in "distressed leather", brass rounds, and regular cowhide liner is done too. I'm a wee bit excited for this year's games to begin...

Thanks in advance for the replies...~Ted

[Tartan Hiker]

I'm confused...what is 20/2 cotton?

[RockyR]

What is the ACTUAL material that you used? Is it Poly Viscose? Poly Cotton? Acrylic? Straight Poly? Cotton Twill?

Are you using 'Poly Viscose' as a generic term for 'non wool' kilts or do you truly know the fiber content of your material?

Where did you buy the material from? That may also help us figure out the fiber content.

I'm not trying to sound harsh or anything... just trying to make sure we know the material so we can tell you how to best care for it as different materials act different ways...

100% Cotton for instance WILL wrinkle and WILL be tough to keep a pleat. This is why most companies that make cotton kilts sew in the edges of each pleat (UK, FK, AK, etc...)

If it is truly PV (I can only speak to the PV sold by MM), it should hold a pleat very well if you iron it on a medium 'steam setting'.

[Riverkilt]

I'm all for portable hand held steamers. Quick, easy, for most fabrics.

And, you don't need a digital camera to take pictures. Get a disposable camera at your supermarket and have the pics developed to disc. Then you can transfer them on line.

Ron

[ruxpin76]

I got the material from The Scottish Weavers in Charlotte, NC:

"100% 20/2 Cotton twill Weave 54" wide 10-11oz/yard" and "The Affordable & Comfortable Alternative to Wool!! This fabric can used for a wide range of uses including apparel and household furnishings. It has the look and feel of medium weight wool but the comfort of cotton at 1/2 the price," is the text on the site. (http://www.thescottishweaver.com/Cot...nPlaidFabric/#)


The pattern is:

[ruxpin76]

Is a cotton twill, so perhaps I'm 'outta' luck. I was on a severe budget at the time of purchase, and can use the remnant for some nice decor items, so it's not a loss anyhow. I did a longer post, which will show once moderated...

[RockyR]

For clarification purposes, I'll point out that Cotton Twill and Poly Viscose are 2 separate things. PV is not a 'universal' term for all non wool kilts... it is a specific fabric like Cotton, Acrylic, Cotton / Poly, Poly / Wool, etc...

***SIDE NOTE: 'Viscose' is the fancy British word for 'Rayon'***

Both Cotton and PV are 'not wool' but the makeup of either fabric is very different. Cotton is a 'natural fabric' and has different properties than PV. Poly Viscose is a man made fabric (65% poly / 35% viscose). SOME PV (the MM PV fabric) comes with a Teflon coating and has 'anti pill technology', while OTHER PV (woven in Asia) has a much looser weave and is NOT coated with Teflon.

You don't have to be quite as careful when ironing Cotton (it won't take on that 'shine' quite as easily if you iron it on too high of a setting), but it WILL wrinkle easier than poly fabrics. I would REALLY suggest sewing down the pleats about 1/32nd of an inch in from the edge of each pleat for ease of ironing. This will keep them 'in place' and make it MUCH easier to iron for touch ups or for after you wash it. If you do NOT do this, you will have to re-iron it every time you wash it and be careful to line the 'white stripe' up perectly every time.

Hope this info helps!

[The Wizard of BC]

I'm going to reinforce Rocky's post.

Treat this fabric just as you would a good Cotton Dress Shirt.

It is really too light for a good swishing Kilt, but if you do make a Kilt from it be sure to Edge Stitch the Pleat creases. Use good quality 100% Cotton thread. Make your stitches long and back off the tension. If you make short tight stitches the edges of the pleats will curl.

As you work on this Kilt keep in mind that Cotton gets better and better the more you iron it. If it will help as you first put in your Pleats use plenty of starch, Then as you iron spritz your fabric with water. This will put in good sharp pleat creases.

After you wear the Kilt and wash it. Re-iron (That's iron, not press. The opposite of what you do with Wool.) your pleats using spray starch.

This fabric will wrinkle. A LOT! Get used to it. It will be so light that you will need the starch to help prevent fly-away in even a moderate breeze.

[Tartan Hiker]

Yes, wrinkles will be ever-present. The up side is that in warm weather you'll be one cool customer. I've made several 100% cotton hiking kilts for use in warm weather and they are really comfortable, but I'd avoid them if I were going to be doing anything where looks count. Just sitting for the time it takes to eat a meal in a restaurant would set wrinkles in your pleats that would persist until the next ironing.

[ruxpin76]

I've thought about doing a full 'backing' of denim or canvas, then making the kilt. My logic being that the heavier material will hold the pleat with the lighter cotton almost serving as a decorative cover. I was thinking of using my 5 yds. left over for a box-pleated variant. Any thoughts? I will iron and starch the one I just made and report back the results. For what it's worth, I doubled the material in the overlaps, and they are substantially heavy enough to provide "frontal coverage".