Hello everyone! Well, the first weekend of Scarborough Fair has come and gone and the belted plaid worked well for me with a few exceptions. It was a bit hot with all that extra man-made fabric piled around my shoulders (and, yes, I know that there are other ways to wear it; I never could get any of them to work quite right for me). Also, it was a bit cumbersome for child wrangling.

So, what I've decided to do is to split it down the center (longways) and turn it into a feilidh-beag. Not precisely period for a renaissance festival, I know, but I saw at least one shop owner out there who was wearing a Utilikilt as part of his attire, so I don't feel quite so bad about it. This also gives me some extra fabric from which to fashion a little "minikilt" for my 18 month old son. My wife thinks the idea of father and son being dressed alike is cute, and I have to admit that I think it is, too.

So, the point of this thread is this: How does one go about putting on a feilidh-beag? With the great kilt one has all this extra material that sort of balances out the process. Is there any particular trick or tip to putting on this smaller one? Once split, the fabric is 30" wide. The measurement from my natural waist to my knee is 21.5 to 22 inches. That gives me at least an extra 8 inches at the top to deal with. I was thinking that I could trim that down somewhat, serge the edge, and then fold that edge down maybe three or four inches on the inside so it doesn't show. OR, that I could trim it down even further than that, make a 1" hem at the top and then go from there.

Any wearers of the feilidh-beag care to chime in with advice or opinions?

Thanks!
~Ken