Altering a kilt

[LANCER1562]

Having lost a few pounds my kilts no longer fit even when pulled into the tightest hole it's still too loose. It has been suggested that one could simply move the buckles which would be fine if the buckles weren't built directly into the fabric. my question is this, would moving the adjustment straps give me the same result?

[Chas]

Robert, it is a combination. Buckle on the right hip and strap on the left hip.

If you have to cut off the buckle on the right and in doing so destroy the fabric holding it, new fabric could be used. Black canvas tape (doubled up if needed) could be used. It will be hidden by the strap anyway, so if black is not available, any dark matching colour will do.

Congrats on the weight loss.

Regards

Chas

[Oddern]

If this is a kilt built the traditional way the buckles is not sewn directly into the fabric of the kilt. If you look carefully at this picture you see that the buckle is connected to a strap of fabric similar to the kilt fabric making it almost invisible:

(courtesy of English Bloke)

With a litle surgical knife or scissors work you can remove this buckle without damaging the kilt, and sew it back on again where you want it. The buttonhole on the left side can be a challange because the edge of the inner apron will stop you from pulling the strap further trough the hole. You can solve this by moving the strap from the edge of the apron to the required posision further to the right on the apron. A second option is to close the button hole, sew the left hand buckle to the inner apron edge and sew the strap to the inside of the kilt, like this:





Skål!

[English Bloke]

... (courtesy of English Bloke)...

Hehehehe... You're welcome.

[Alan H]

If you're talking about 2 inches to shrink, you can move the straps and buckles (on the body of the kilt, not on the over-apron) and you're fine. If it's just an inch and you don't think you'll shrink any more, I'd be tempted to re-do the right-hand edge of the over-apron. If it's two-plus inches I would *not* do it that way, I'd move the buckles/straps.

If it's more than that, you're talking about a major rebuild if this is a nice kilt. If it's a casual, non-wool kilt, especially if it's pleated to stripe, then there are a few things I would do if I dearly loved the kilt, but they're so much work that it's almost worth it to just get another kilt.

[LANCER1562]

I should have mentioned in my original post that I have dropped maybe an inch, but no more than two inches. Since I often wear a waistcoat (vest) with my kilts, I was thinking that I could tighten it to the tightest hole and use a pair of suspenders which will be hidden by the waistcoat that way I won't have to go throgh all this again when I put the weight back on in the fall and winter months.