WTB: Liverpool Scottish kilt (Forbes tartan, military pattern)

[The Wizard of BC]

You may be correct Peter. I simply do not know how the old stuff was done.

I do know that when I weigh fabric I compare it to today's fabric. One linear yard (36 inches) by 60 inches wide.
This I call a fabric yard as compared to a kilt yard which is the length of the fabric used to make the kilt regardless of its width.

So, one fabric yard would be 60"X36" or 2160 square inches. (that's 13935.46 square cm)

To determine the weight of the fabric used in a kilt I measure along the hem. This gives me the kilt length. Then multiply that by the total width (drop + rise) of fabric used in the kilt.

So let's say as an example only that I have a kilt that is made from a kilt length 288 inches long and is a total of 26 inches wide. 288"X26"=7488 square inches.
7488/2160=3.466 fabric yards. If the total weight of the kilt is around 65 to 67 ounces I would know that the kilt is made from 16oz fabric. (accounting for 10oz which is the approx. weight of the interfacing, stabilizer, lining, straps & buckles and thread.)

If I use the same standard all the time it gives me a pretty good comparison between the modern fabrics I use everyday and any other kilt that I run across.

(and by the way, and only for comparison - the modern kilt fabrics that I have used weigh between 14.2oz and 18.1oz using this method even though sold as 16oz. So there is no real standard and everyone is a bit different.)