X-Kilt 2.0 (Beta)

[dwmoffatt]

Yay, lefties! I am still hesitating to start my traditional kilt (by The Art of Kiltmaking instructions) due to my left handedness, but I will get around to it. And rest assured, you all will be able to follow along with me (ad nauseum) via my usual photo documentation of the process!

Be well,

F-H.C.A.G. - When you get there I'd like to ask how you do with lining and matching up the stripes in the tartan. That has been the toughest part for me. I think the way I pull the material while. The only work around I have found is back stitching before and after to keep everything in line. Its a few extra stitches for every stripe, but it gets the job done, right?
Just wanted to share and ask for any tips you find.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

...Snip...
Hopefully you can see the aprons and first 2 pleats layed over the pleats before them. The thought was to pull the waist in (42 inches) but leave the hips (50 inches) without shaping the box pleats but by shaping them like a TANK. 1 inch at the waist, 3 inches at the hips.
Thoughts? Advice?

My only criticism would be the tapering you have done at the sides of the apron. I would, in general, recommed NOT tapering the sides of the apron OR the first two pleats to either side of the apron. You want the apron to lay flat, not be pulled to the side. But I cannot tell how it looks on you-more pictures needed!

F-H.C.A.G. - When you get there I'd like to ask how you do with lining and matching up the stripes in the tartan. That has been the toughest part for me. I think the way I pull the material while. The only work around I have found is back stitching before and after to keep everything in line. Its a few extra stitches for every stripe, but it gets the job done, right?
Just wanted to share and ask for any tips you find.

I'll let you know! What's back stitching? Please understand, I am NOT a seamstress, nor do I have ANY formal (and very little informal) training in sewing/tailoring, so I am as much in need of assistance (if not more so) as you are!

Be well,

[dwmoffatt]

I’ll see what I can do for a picture of wearing it. I wore it a party but I think we only have video. I may need a second body for the picture wearing it.


I started out hand stitching after reading the “The Art of Kiltmaking” a few times. I saw a post you had and saw another book I’ve come to use often, “Sewing for Dummies” I think it was. I freely admit that the lack of any formal training or instruction (along with the south – paw in me) I may not do anything like anyone else.
Barb’s chapter on stitching the pleats suggests pulling the pleat a few threads off to allow the stripes to line up while stitching (I think this might be a “Reverse Slipstitch”) with a back stitch every often.
I found I just can’t do this correctly every time. My work around or solution was a backstitch before and after each stripe. It’s a little more work but after hours of hand-stitching the last thing you want to see is the stripes to be off set.
I found some nice info on Google.
Search http://www.helloknitty.com/pdfs/Handstitches.pdf on Google and view the PDF.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

Thanks! I now know what a backstitch is. I still need to read my copy of Sewing for Dummies-mostly I just use it to look up things as I go along. I've been using a backstitch for years without knowing what it was called!

Be well,

[Alan H]

Interesting idea....no shaping/tapering of the pleats, but just angling the apron over the first pleat. My gut reaction is that it's not gonna work....why?

Because people, unless they have, as Barb puts it..."a bit of a corporation"... are relatively flattish in front, but muchly shaped 'round the rumpside. You notice that the vast majority of the tapering in a traditional kilt is done in the pleats, and very little is done in the apron, aside from the A-shaping? There's a reason for that.

However, that's all theory. What counts is when you drape it round your tush.

Pics!

[dwmoffatt]

Here's the purple plaid starting. Cleaing the rough ends and a hem.


Outside of the box pleats, I still don't like sewing the inside of the box.


Pleats coming together.


Top is added and stiched down.

[dwmoffatt]

I think Alan might be correct. I've noticed that the kilts are what I was looking for, at the belt waist and a little long.

The biggest downside is squating down. I find a test the limits of the rump. I always joked that I had a flat rear end but I'm finding Alan's quote from Barb may be true of everyone.

I'm looking forward to trying knife pleats at the waist and longer I'm just concerned about the weight.

Any ideas or thoughts by anyone about the weight of tank pleated X kilt????

[Alan H]

Any ideas or thoughts by anyone about the weight of tank pleated X kilt????

A tank pleated X-Kilt with a full width apron is...very simply, a box pleated traditional kilt. so use 13 or 16 oz material, if you can!

[Mark Keeney]

2 new kilts?
I’m thinking I’d like to try something very different. I have a touch over four yards and the idea is an inverse box pleat right in the middle with 15 inches or so of knife pleats on each side (pointing back towards the box). I want to have a smaller apron, more X-Kilt and less TANK so the knife pleats will be more visible.

This sounds like the pleating system of a Utilikilt unless I am missing something.

[Kid Cossack]

This sounds like the pleating system of a Utilikilt unless I am missing something.

It does at that, doesn't it? I think I'd like something that was "quasi-traditional", like a cross between a UK and something more traditional. Use the reverse Kinguisse style pleating, a slightly narrower apron (say 1/3 vice 1/2 width), I think it would be "the bomb."