My 2nd and 3rd kilts

[BarefootScott]

As I've already posted in the "Show Us your Pics" section, I made two kilts, two shoulder plaids, and two flashes sets the week before Christmas. I made my brother's kilt first (http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=23354), and mine second (http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=23353). (They are actually my second
and third kilts, respectively.) The shoulder plaids were a sort of ongoing project throughout, mostly because frilling takes so long! The flashes were made last once everything else was finished. Each outfit took about 20 hrs. total for the kilt, shoulder plaid, and flashes. Being able to make your own matching accessories is one of the things that makes kiltmaking so rewarding (as long as you've purchased enough fabric, of course!)
My tartan is clan McWal-mart, bought on sale for under $10, and my brother's is clan McJoanFabrics, purchased for $15. Both fabrics are 10 oz. 100% cotton. My buckles and straps were purchased at a local St. Vincent DePaul in the form of old leather belts for a toal of $1.25. My brother "splurged" and bought some Dickies belts for about $10. The liners are made from 1/4 yard of light-weight, "fuzzy" cotton fabric purchased at Joan Fabrics for $0.93 that holds pretty well to keep things from sliding down. I also used 100% cotton thread for all stitching. (Can you tell I don't like sythetics?)
The tartan on my kilt has a 4.75" sett, and I have 19 pleats spaced at 1" with an under-pleat-width of 3.75". There are 17 pleats on my brothers kilt with a pleat spacing of 1.5" and an UPW of 3.5". My kilt used just over 4 yards of fabric, and my bro's took up about 4.5.

EDIT: I also forgot to mention that this was my first seamed kilt. I purchased the fabric in 2.75 yards of double width and seamed it where I knew it would fall in the under-pleat (based on where I was pleating to). I'm very happy with the result and couldn't even tell when I was done.

Now for some pics!
This first one is in the middle of pleating my kilt (#3). Here I have 7 pleats done and am starting on the eighth:


This is a closeup:


As you can see, I prefer pinning to basting stitches. I personally find it easier to work with. Thankfully, I also have a nice big 8' formica top fold-up table to work on, and it is sooooo nice.

Here's a closeup of the finished pleats:


This is a pic of the inside of my kilt:


And here's a pic of my flashes:


EDIT: I've had several questions on how I made the flashes, so I'll tell you how I did it, but I don't know if it's right. I made a tube of fabric by folding the cloth in half inside-out and sewing down the edge where the halves meet. Then I turned the tube inside out, placing the seam on the inside. (This is similar to making a pillowcase or pillow.) I then ironed about a 1" piece down at the top and sewed a line across for the elastic band to pass through. The last thing I did is cut a "V" out of the bottom after carefully measuring to find the center.
They came out well and I'm happy with the results, though there's one thing I'd do different next time: I would cut out and sew the "V" into the bottom before turning the tube inside-out (right side out, actually). This would produce a nice sewn edge on the bottom of the flash instead of a raw edge.

Finally, here are the finished works: (you can see more at the links above)


Feel free to post any suggestions you have so I can take them into consideration on my next kilt(s).

Thanks for looking!