Turning skirt into kilt

[Benning Boy]

There's a woman's tartan kilt skirt listed on ebay at a very low price that interests me as a source of fabric to practice kilt making. There's supposed to be three yards of cloth in the skirt, wool, made in Scotland, but of unknown weight.

Could I make a box pleat kilt to fit 42-inch hips of three yards, perhaps by adding on some solid colored fabric for the under apron, and maybe elsewhere to extend the length?

I'm inspired by this old thread: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...ed-kilt-18319/

The skirt measures 29-inches and was made for 46-inch hips.

I wouldn't have to make anything strictly traditional. I could see making a reverse Kingussie hiking kilt, or something just to knock around in.

[Norbo]

I see woman's kilts and skinny boy 28" and 32" kilts att the time but alas im a good 36 to 38" in kilt and non fit if they did id have about 50 by now. they are always cheep as chips as well.

[Chas]

I truly do not know, but I think that you would struggle to do it - if at all.

The generally accepted difference between waist and hips is 4". That is to say, if the hips of the skirt are 46" then the waist should be 42". The difference between 29" and 46" is 17" - over 4 times the accepted norm. I do not think that it is do-able.

[cessna152towser]

I think you'd be cutting it fine to make a man's box pleated kilt from three yards of material, most of the ones I've seen use four yards of fabric.

[Pleater]

Women's skirts are usually of lightweight material - and loosely woven too. Some have been treated to 'permanent press' in the pleats too, which is a pain.

For a box pleated kilt you really need something with a bit of gravitas, even to practise on. It seems to be a fairly universal concept that anything will do to for practise - like the cheap guitars parents buy for their children to learn on and then feel glad they didn't spend more as the poor kids give up so quickly.

A few yards of good fabric shouldn't be vastly expensive, and it will give you a better start than a skirt.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Dixiecat]

There's a woman's tartan kilt skirt listed on ebay at a very low price that interests me as a source of fabric to practice kilt making. There's supposed to be three yards of cloth in the skirt, wool, made in Scotland, but of unknown weight.

Could I make a box pleat kilt to fit 42-inch hips of three yards, perhaps by adding on some solid colored fabric for the under apron, and maybe elsewhere to extend the length?

I'm inspired by this old thread: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...ed-kilt-18319/

The skirt measures 29-inches and was made for 46-inch hips.

I wouldn't have to make anything strictly traditional. I could see making a reverse Kingussie hiking kilt, or something just to knock around in.

It can be done if you use extra fabric for the under apron and if the pleats have not been cut. I gather that the length is 29" and not the waist? If so, it's also possible to use a bit of that in places to cheat too, although if you use it vertically you may not to be able to match the sett exactly.

All that being said, it may not be worth the time that it will take you to un-sew the skirt to get it to a state that you can reuse the fabric. Only you can decide that.

[kiltlady]

True, taper for men's kilts is generally 4"and taper for women's kilted skirts is at least 10". The bigger problem is that the insides of the pleats may be graded, that is, cut away to lessen bulk. If you picked out all the stitching, you may have big scallops cut out of the yardage which would make a different pleat size difficult, if not impossible. I have made plenty of box pleat kilts and I usually need 4 yards. Now, many tartans yardages are double width, meaning that the wool is 56 - 60 inches wide and since a kilt is generally 20 - 26 inches in length, one only needs 2 yards for a 4 yard kilt. Does that make sense?

Upshot is that if the kilted skirt on Ebay is more than 24" or so long, and there is four yards of fabric, and is NOT cut away from the waist to the drop line, there should be adequate fabric.

Next problem is that the pleats have been ironed/steamed into the fabric and will never totally disappear.
Hope this helps.