Reverse-K Xkilt

[meinfs]

Hello again,

Without the distractions of western boots, here's my latest DIY kilt:

a reverse-Kingussie pleated Xkilt (with thanks to Sydnie7 for the inspiration).



Pleat stitching closeup. The pleats below the fell are not stitched.


Back view. You can see where the pleats meet in the middle.



Fabric: woven suede (difficult to work with, has a lot of give).

- I'm debating whether to add cargo pockets.

- Also considering to use 1" black nylon webbing for belt loops.

Any suggestions or preferences?

[Aldisimo]

Looks great, as usual. I think using the webbing for belt loops would be a kick!

[george7]

That might be the nicest xkilt yet

[Mipi]

Fantastic work!! It fits you perfectly. Just hope it'll not wrinkle to much. My experience with R K is that it wrinkles more then other (all pleats are "looking" into midle of your legs/ back side). Ordinary Kinussie would be better on this issue.

The suede gives weathered look, very nice.

[meinfs]

Looks great, as usual. I think using the webbing for belt loops would be a kick!

Thanks Aldisimo. I used webbing in an accent belt loop on my khaki xkilt before.


But with the dark green kilt color, black won't stand out too much. Besides, my belt is black.

[meinfs]

That might be the nicest xkilt yet

Georgeblack7, Thank you very much for the compliment!

[ardchoille]

Your kilt is beautiful! How did you do the stitching in the fell?

[meinfs]

Fantastic work!! It fits you perfectly. Just hope it'll not wrinkle to much. My experience with R K is that it wrinkles more then other (all pleats are "looking" into midle of your legs/ back side). Ordinary Kinussie would be better on this issue.

The suede gives weathered look, very nice.

Thanks very much Mipi. It does tend to wrinkle - one sit in the car is enough. But I try to "sweep and hold" as I sit down on a car seat.

The suede look definitely was what attracted me to the fabric - it's got both a sheen and a weathered look. (Has the look of leather.)

Without the boots, an evening look would look like this. (I would consider wearing a light (cream) tie with cream hose or go black altogether).

[meinfs]

Your kilt is beautiful! How did you do the stitching in the fell?

Thank you Ardchoille! The stitching is the same as for my other xkilts. It's topstitched near the edge (with double-duty polyester/polyester thread from Coat & Clarks).

I work on one pleat at a time but I fold in the second pleat next to it - like Barb's book says - to stitch 4 layers. Following chalk marks, I fold it and pin-baste it at 3 or 4 points (2 on one pleat and 2 on the next pleat; one near the waist band, the other near the bottom of the fell), then machine-stitch. You need two pleats anyway to form one pleat joint.

Oh I didn't cut any inside pleat fabric away - there's no problem with bulkiness and steeking becomes unnecessary.

The fabric is 100% polyester and sueded (which causes a lot of give in the fabric, a challenge).


14 pleats (7 on each side) of 2" pleat size at the hips. The front apron is about 14", a bit wider than my typical xkilt. I prefer wider front aprons anyway.

Oh, I also put 2 deep pleats, one each on both left and right edges of the pleated section. I find that if the last pleat isn't deep enough, it'll cause the pleat to bunch up when seated and spill its guts out as you stand up.
In kingussie pleating, it's symmetrical to the other half (where you normally would have a deep pleat anyway), so why not duplicate that symmetry (and keep it symmetrical, LOL). (Nobody told me this, I just thought these things out as I went - in the spirit of the Xkilt).

[ardchoille]

Thank you Ardchoille! The stitching is the same as for my other xkilts. It's topstitched near the edge (with double-duty polyester/polyester thread from Coat & Clarks).

I work on one pleat at a time but I fold in the second pleat next to it - like Barb's book says - to stitch 4 layers. Following chalk marks, I fold it and pin-baste it at 3 or 4 points (2 on one pleat and 2 on the next pleat; one near the waist band, the other near the bottom of the fell), then machine-stitch. You need two pleats anyway to form one pleat joint.

Oh I didn't cut any inside pleat fabric away - there's no problem with bulkiness and steeking becomes unnecessary.

The fabric is 100% polyester and sueded (which causes a lot of give in the fabric, a challenge).


14 pleats (7 on each side) of 2" pleat size at the hips. The front apron is about 14", a bit wider than my typical xkilt. I prefer wider front aprons anyway.

Oh, I also put 2 deep pleats, one each on both left and right edges of the pleated section. I find that if the last pleat isn't deep enough, it'll cause the pleat to bunch up when seated and spill its guts out as you stand up.
In kingussie pleating, it's symmetrical to the other half (where you normally would have a deep pleat anyway), so why not duplicate that symmetry (and keep it symmetrical, LOL). (Nobody told me this, I just thought these things out as I went - in the spirit of the Xkilt).

Thanks for the explanation Yeah, the Dual Duty XP is what I use, it's great thread.