Is this how all Scotweb kilts look?

[Colm]

approximately $800 on my family tartan kilt for my upcoming wedding:

The bottom of my kilt is not folder under and sewn. The entire bottom is just a rough cut. Not only does this look cheap, it is prone to fray.
The cuts are jagged all the way around.
There is a random, uneven folded and sewn part between the 1st and 2nd pleat.
The part under the kilt pin area where two fabrics are sewn back top back looks terrible as the underside is longer.
The rest of the kilt is superb. The tartan is vibrant, the pleats and sewing of the kilt around the waist is great, so why does the entire bottom look undone?

I have contacted the complaints team through telephone and emails and they did not address my issue or the photos I sent. Instead, I was told the fabric is uneven because DC dalgleish weaves with a traditional kilting sevedge, not a computer. I don't see how the weave (which I adore) is related to the craftsmanship of the kilt. I was told a kilt should look uneven because it is a piece of cloth wrapped around your waist. They seem to have no interest in helping me. "If you're not happy, we want to know!"
So I am looking for advice on this forum.

My conclusion is this: The kilt is not finished. Perhaps the 3rd party crafting it...their measurement came up short?
I have kilts that were half the price that look better.
I did my research and saw many great reviews from Scotweb kilts so I didn't mind paying a little extra for a quality product but to me, this is unacceptable and they are not even recognizing my complaints.
Am I missing something here? Someone please weigh in on these pictures.
Thank you for your time.

underside between 1st and 2nd pleat:
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/394/36798625.jpg

same problem, other side. ridiculously uneven:
http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/1565/20008926.jpg

example of the bottom of the kilt in the front:
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9568/67016322.jpg

bottom edge under kilt pin area:
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/844/68700202.jpg

[artificer]

Woah. The first pic (the underside of pleat 1 & 2) is the only one that looks normal, as this is frequently tucked as pictured to prevent it poking out oddly.


Everything else looks odd.

~20 of us just had a LOT of fabric woven by Dalgliesh, and the selvedge edge didn't look anything like that (from initial reports, as my fabric was delivered directly to my kilt maker).

Hope you can come to some resolution with them.
ith:

[denmcdough]

Best to post some pictures with you in the kilt before a final judgement can be made.

If the inner apron, and several of the front pleats, are tacked up, that's about normal. I have three top notch kilts, two with Dalgliesh, and there is a bit of a turn up on the inner apron.

Pictures with the kilt on, please!!!!!!

[McMurdo]

I have also had a special weave from DC Dagleish and was happy with it, what you have there seems off. I agree with the above about the first photo it is normal to tuck this area up so that there is no unwanted reveal. I'd assume that that is also the reason for the tuck on the 2nd photo as well. However if you are unhappy than hopefully some resolution can be agreed on as this is a lot of money to spend not to be completely satisfied.

[ForresterModern]

From what I see the two folded up sections in the recesses of the first pleats is typical design to help keep the first pleat recess from drooping below the apron, as well as keeping that pleat relatively straight and defined relative to the apron itself. The apron bottom edge just looks like they did not get the back folded over segment pulled up high enough to keep it covered by the front of the apron. That may or may not be visible with the kilt on---if so then it should probably be fixed.

The irregular contour of the selvedge is likely due to the fact that it was a custom weave and probably woven on the older single width machines--not my experience with the few kilts I have that are custom weaves from Dalgleish, so this might be worth discussing with Dalgleish as a quality issue.

Nick Fiddes is one of the owners of Scotweb, which also now I believe owns Dalgleish as well. Nick is a regular on the forum and contact can be made by PMing him if all other avenues fail.

I do have one Scotweb kilt, NOT a Dalgleish custom weave, and it is structurally similar to yours but does not have the apron foldover overlap or the irregular selvedge.

Good luck with getting things straightened out.

[AKScott]

I got a Balmoral kilt in from scotweb just yesterday. I hope to take pictures this weekend. I agree with the foregoing, the two foldovers on the kickpleats are so the bottom of the kickpleat does not hang below the edge of the kilt when you are wearing it.

Not sure about the selvedge, I have never before ordered a custom weave.

How does it look when you are acutally wearing it?

[Colm]

Thank you for taking a look and the information on that particular part. I was hoping that the fold between the pleats served a purpose I was unaware of.
AKScott, is the bottom edge of your balmoral kilt folded under and sewn?

[ccga3359]

My top quality kilts do not have a folded and sewn hem only my canvas ones. It is a kilt selvage so will not ravel. Also the others are correct about that area folded up and sewn so as to not shown below the front apron. I suggest reading Barb Tewksbury book The Art Of Kiltmaking both details are covered in there and is an interesting read about how and why a kilt is made as it is.

[mookien]

I can pretty much second what ForresterModern wrote about the selvedge. I have purchased several runs of custom Dalgliesh cloth - 1 lightweight and 4 heavyweight. Each has a perfectly straight selvedge - with no fraying or uneven sections. PMing Nick Fiddes sounds like good advice to me. Good luck.

[AKScott]

PMing Nick Fiddes sounds like good advice to me. Good luck.

I have a child moving out of the house and out of state (first attempt) this weekend and can not give this matter my full attention. I would wait until an experienced kilt maker or two have chimed in before I got into too big a hurry to PM Dr. Fiddes. I don't how the aprons and pleats and fell are sewn together to each other and can't look just this moment.

AlanH, BarbT, Pleater, paulhenry, lots of folks with a ton more experience than me.