...in getting/making a really nice looking kilt, in my humble opinion...


...is starting with first-class tartan.

Let's say, for example, that you're on a tight budget and you just simply can't spend the $$$ not now, not for years, on a many-yard, mostly-handsewn kilt. You can't have dozens of kilts, maybe you can have one knockaround and one "nice" one and that's all you can afford and that's all you know you'll be able to afford for a long time. In my humble opinion it would be better to get a machine-sewn kilt of somewhat less yardage, but of first class materials, than to buy a many-yard kilt made out of lower quality stuff. There's no question that the skill level of the tailor/seamstress has a huge impact on the quality of a kilt, but if really strapped, this would be my order of priorities for my "nice" kilt..


1. first quality 100% worsted wool tartan in 13 or 16 ounce stuff

2. hand-sewn pleats and other handwork.

3. "more" yardage of tartan.

Assuming the same sett size, a "FIVE-YARD" machine-sewn (pleats are machine-topstitched) kilt of top quality 13-16 ounce stuff is probably better-looking for 'dress-up" than an "eight-yard" kilt, even hand-sewn, of lightweight blended tartan.

This is not to say that lightweight blended tartan doesn't have it's place, it sure does. I have several of them and I wear them all the time. I wear a self-made machine-topstitched wool-poly blend kilt in the Lindsay tartan ALL the time and love it. But for my "Nice" kilt, if I had to pick...

...spend money on the fabric, first.

*just my opinion, what's yours?*******