Waistband questions

**Bearded Man Brew** · 21st December 12, 08:43 AM

I am making a non traditioal kilt with cotton/poly twill. Everything I read says that the waistband should be around 2 inches. In my past attempts, the fit is not the greatest after I attach the waistband. I noticed on the pictures on the forum, that the waistband seems to be alot thinner.

Any guidence would be greatly appreciated

**sydnie7** · 21st December 12, 10:02 AM

I also ran into early problems with fit while making casual kilts with a wide waistband (wide enough to take the Velcro that I used as closure). My solution was to measure the waistband strip itself for the length I needed, then adjust the width of aprons/depth of deep pleats as needed to match before sewing the seam.

The thin waistband on traditional kilts is really just a binding to finish the top of the garment. The actual waist fit is at the top buckle, which may be 1.5 to several inches below the top of the kilt.

Hope that makes sense and helps!

**plaid preacher** · 21st December 12, 10:04 AM

Hey bearded, are you making a waistband like you would find on a pair of jeans? I am presently in the midst of making my first xkilt, so I am by no means an expert, but the waistband on the xkilt design is only an inch (+/-). It is fairly traditional. That is what I need to do next. I was thinking about a pants typed waistband on my next version, and maybe sitting it a little lower on my hips. But not there yet. You can find the xkilt pattern on a sticky in the DIY forum, if you want to check it out.

**Bearded Man Brew** · 21st December 12, 01:51 PM

I am doing a waistband like on pants to finish it off. I think that the fit will be better this time as I tapered teh pleats differently. I am always looking for advice whenever possible but will keep you posted.

**Bearded Man Brew** · 26th December 12, 08:50 AM

I finished the waistband on my most recent kilt. I only made it about 1.5" wide and it seemed to follow the curve of the fabric much better and also fits much better. I also adjusted my pleating tapers much more in teh back for this version which also aided in a better fit. This is only version #8 so I expect them to be better with each attempt. I also was given a copy of the Art of Kiltmaking for Christmas. I have read some of it but am excited to get even more information about this art.