A STEP-BY-STEP PRIMER ON PRESSING A KILT!!!!

Put your kilt on and turn around in front of a mirror. Look at the hang of the pleats. If they seem to have a stage curtain, wavy look, the pleats need to be re-creased completely.
If your pleat edges are a smooth round edge instead of a sharp crease you need to re-press.
If your pleats are hanging well and the edges are sharp, but there are wrinkles in the pleat surfaces you don't need to go through these steps. Simply set your iron to a steam setting and shoot steam through the pleats as it hangs naturally.

DON"T STEAM YOUR KILT WHILE WEARING IT!!!! OUCH!!!

You don't want to put too much heat on the kilt while steaming. This will take the creases right out. Just shoot a jet of steam at the kilt from about four or five inches away, while you gently pull down on three or four pleats at a time.
If the fabric gets so hot that you cannot touch it you are using too much heat. I use a waving action with the jet of steam. I grab three or four pleats, pull down gently to put a little tension in the fabric and then shoot a quick shot of steam. Then wait a couple of seconds and shoot the next couple of pleats.

If you need to re-set the pleats follow these steps.


1. Lay your kilt out on a table or other large, flat surface. The floor is perfect.

2. Set your iron to the appropriate heat setting. Wool for Wool, or the lower Polyester or Synthetic setting for Poly/Viscous, or the higher Cotton setting for most Contemporary kilts.

3. Moisten a pressing cloth. You can use a pillow case, or some other like cloth. This cloth should be slightly damp only. Just enough so you can feel moisture nothing more.

4. Get a needle and thread. Use an upholstery thread if you have it, otherwise you can use any heavy duty thread.

5. Baste your pleats back to the original position. Use the pattern on your kilt up near the Fell as a guide. To find the Fell, slide you finger up one of the pleats until you find where the pleat is sewn down in the area of the hip.
Basting is actually very easy. You should only need a few minutes to do an entire kilt.
Fold one pleat to the proper line of the Tartan pattern and loosly sew it to the next pleat only. You will be sewing through four layers of fabric.
Use a tape measure or ruler to insure you keep the proper pleat spacing exactly the same as up at the fell.
You do not knot the thread, just leave a long tail at the beginning. You are not re-sewing the pleats, only holding them in place while you press.
Baste one line at the hem and another half way up to the Fell.
DO NOT SKIP THE BASTING STEP.
do not use pins. Pins will leave large wrinkles in your pleats.

6. After the entire kilt is basted use a pillow, rolled bath towel, or some other cushion to lift the Fell area up till the pleats below the Fell so the pleats are nice and perfectly flat and smooth all the way down to the hem.

I use a large ironing table 3'x5' with a cloth cover but you can use almost any smooth, flat surface. The floor is perfect as long as you don't have thick shag carpeting. DON'T USE YOUR WIFES DINING ROOM TABLE!!! The steam you are going to use will ruin the surface and you will end up eating in the garage for the rest of your life.

7. Lay the pressing cloth over the pleat area. Place the iron down on the covered kilt and LEAN ON THAT SUCKER!!!. Hit the Steam button on your iron a couple of times if it has one. It is the pressure and the heat of the steam that does the work. USE ONLY THE STEAM TO CREATE THE HEAT AND GET IT DOWN INTO THE FABRIC!!!
Leave the iron in place with pressure for a count of ten or fifteen.
Then lift the iron and move it over to overlap the last area by about 50%. DO NOT SLIDE THE IRON TO THE NEXT AREA, PICK IT UP AND PLACE IT DOWN. Press again. Repeat until you have gone over the entire pleated area of the kilt.

8. Remove the pressing cloth and allow the kilt to cool completely without moving it or disturbing it. This allows the creases to set.

9. Lift your kilt and look at the pleats. They should now hang perfectly straight and flat. If you see any irregularities remove the basting in that area only. Re-baste and re-press the irregular area. Check the kilt again.
If everything looks good remove the basting.

10. Put your kilt on, turn around in front of a mirror and check the hang of the pleats. If everything looks good smile and go outside to show off your work.

This will completely re-set the pleats of your entire kilt. This only needs to be done once or twice a year on a good quality Wool kilt.

Anyone who wears the kilt should get real good at pressing. Learn to enjoy the process. It is one of those totally new experiences for most men. But oh the difference in a newly pressed kilt.

It takes me less than an 30 min. to do an entire kilt including the time to let the iron warm up and the time to find the basting thread and remember where my needle was used last.