My record of kilt making is not very long, not compared to my sewing of smocks and tunics, knitting socks, or jerseys or other traditional garments.

However, I do have a family tradition to keep up, and an inherited persnikertyness which means things have got to be right.

Some of my kilts have been remade four times as my waist has decreased from 50 to 38 inches. I started off with traditional knife pleats, but they evolved with each remaking.

I have settled on a method of which is the reverse of the Kinguisse style, and was perhaps torn between pride and pique when the last two, the black and the DPM versions were thought to be Utilikilts.

Various kilts have been machine sewn entirely, hand sewn entirely, or a mixture, with different parts being done differently to see how well they could be done. I don't sew the fell, nor the inner edges of the aprons, nor the outer folds of the pleats but use careful folding and sewing to get a flared apron and perfectly even pleats.

The techniques I have evolved for sewing by hand and machine are slightly different in order to avoid various problems inherent with the different methods of construction, but I would say that only the skill of the maker is at all important.

With care and a good technique just about every seam of a kilt could be sewn perfectly on a sewing machine, whilst a poor or careless sewer could mess up making a kilt by hand. I think it is not really the method of sewing which is important but the skills of the maker and the effort they are prepared to put into the making up, and the correcting of any errors.