Stillwater Kilts

[Mike S]

Don't you then have to sew the pleats down further as well, to get the correct fell length?

That depends on how much you need to remove off of the top. With just an inch or two, I really don't think it is vital to do so, but not a big deal to go ahead and sew them down an inch or so further down at the bottom.

I'd also HIGHLY recommend that one should go ahead and cut out the interior pleats where they are sewn down, as is done on a bespoke kilt, while you have the top binding removed. I did that on my Stillwater Heavyweight wool Black Watch, and it makes all the difference in the world.

If you do this, you'll need to add a canvas liner between the interior pleats and the black liner, and tack the whole canvas piece down to the pleated area to provide support to that area and take some of the weight off of the pleat stitching. This is then fastened securely at the top along with the black cloth liner at the waistband, and enclosed between the top binding.