With some of my 'stuff I had in the cupboard' kilts, when they have been washed and dried I need to iron them first - always on the back and with the iron set at the minimum temperature required to remove the creases. I do use spray starch on some - also on the inside as the starch is white so not good with bright colours or black kilts.
Once the fabric is smooth I then press in the creases I want to have, using the spray feature on my iron and increasing the heat to get lots of steam. To be able to press down hard on individual edges I have a board with a couple of turns of white cotton fabric wrapped around it. It can be slid underneath a pleat and then the imprint of pleats or seams beneath are not pressed into the fabric.
I don't press seams, as some of the thread I have is man made fibre, which can be melted by the high heat. I use mostly cotton, but over the years the polyester has crept in when I needed to match a colour.
I prefer cotton threads, which are weaker than the fabric so that I can rip out seams easily, and if the kilt gets snagged the stitches give not the fabric.
Anne the Pleater :ootd:
I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed."
-- The Hon. Stuart Ruaidri Erskine, The Kilt & How to Wear It, 1901.
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