Two xkilt questions

**janderson** · 8th July 12, 07:13 PM

Two questions for the more experienced DIY-ers out there.

First, I'm working on my first xkilt and either I'm missing something when reading the instructions or just not getting it with one thing. I've got the material hemmed and was ready to start marking out the pleat structure when something just didn't feel right. The instructions discuss the the first and last inner pleat folds, which makes sense. What confuses me is the diagram call for a 12" under apron pleat after the over apron. How do you determine the size of this under apron pleat? My over apron is going to be 11". Just looking for some clarification or did I miss something later in the instructions that explain this.

Second, my wife and I have been discussing making mini-xkilts for our sons out of the extra material from mine when it is complete (and there will be more than enough for me to do another xkilt and still make theirs after this first one is done). My question for this is, what would you recommend for changing the sizing of the pleats and the aforementioned under apron pleat for the kiddies. I'm looking at a rump size (with diapers) of 18 and 21 inches or there abouts for the two boys.

And before anyone says a thing, pictures will come when the job is complete. I am trying to document the process with pictures for a big post when complete.

**sydnie7** · 8th July 12, 09:07 PM

That is 12" of material folded into a 6" deep pleat. Does that help?

As for putting a kilt over a diaper. . . I'm thinking elastic at the waist to help with the ginormous amount of taper you'll be dealing with.

Looking forward to the results!

**janderson** · 9th July 12, 06:04 AM

I think that makes sense for the deep pleat. Don't have the material in front o fme so I sketched it out with your comment in mind, seems to make sense now. Going to sit down when I have more time today and see if I can't work out a feasible pleating option for the kiddie kilts. But if any one has a suggestion I'm listening.

**Pleater** · 10th July 12, 07:28 AM

Kilts for children used to be joined onto a vest so the kilts did not have to have waists - which children don't have anyway.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

**kc8ufv** · 10th July 12, 09:34 AM

Josh, if you want, I can swing by this evening with the 2 that I made if you want to see how. The first one, I forgot to put in the reverse pleat, though. I still haven't had a chance to get started on the traditional ones, yet, though...

**janderson** · 10th July 12, 10:31 AM

I'm not available tonight Chris, but I may be messaging you sometime, I definitely am better at doing things when I've seen it upclose than running on mostly written instructions.

I started sewing the pleats in last night. Would have gotten further and worked later if not for one unwell little one and the older one starting morning pre-school today.

**kc8ufv** · 10th July 12, 01:02 PM

I know the feeling. That's how I ended up missing the reverse pleat on the first one, and why I plan on 2 practice kilts from Barb's book before I even touch the Rlyeh Sett...

**Alan H** · 18th July 12, 10:31 AM

What sydnie7 said. You need 12 inches of fabric so that you can make a 6-inch deep pleat. Trust me, up there, "deep" is good.

As for kid-size pleats, how about 1 - 1.5 inch? Something like that.

Try this. Measure about Juniors rump. Divide that number in thirds. One third will be the over-apron and two-thirds will be the pleats. Now, take that two-thirds-rumpus number and divide it by however many pleats you want to go 'round Juniors backside. Seven might be a good number of pleats. What you get is how wide juniors pleats will be.

**Alan H** · 18th July 12, 10:40 AM

What sydnie7 said. You need 12 inches of fabric so that you can make a 6-inch deep pleat. Trust me, up there, "deep" is good.

As for kid-size pleats, how about 1 - 1.5 inch? Something like that.

Try this. Measure around Juniors rump. Now add an inch, maybe an inch and a half for diapers and also for "growth room". Divide that number in thirds. One third will be the over-apron and two-thirds will be the pleats. Now, take that two-thirds-rumpus number and divide it by however many pleats you want to go 'round Juniors backside. Seven might be a good number of pleats. What you get is how wide juniors pleats will be.

**janderson** · 18th July 12, 02:48 PM

Thanks Alan. I was thinking in the 1.5 inch range for the kid size option, almost exactly as you described it. I worked the numbers and sure enough 7 pleats seems to be good.

I hopefully will have the time to do some more work on it tomorrow. I have the pleats sewn down and bar tacked. I'm impressed with my own skills so far in that everything is lining up and measuring dead on (pretty good for my first serious sewing project). I have one small concern with the way the A-shaping of the apron affects the hang of the deep pleat, but I figure a good long look at it and a few runs of pinning it should tell me what I need to do.

Pics may be slow coming, learned a valuable lesson last weekend. Be careful with your cell phone when getting ready to deep fry a turkey. The clip on my phone broke and the phone fell into the pot of peanut oil. Luckily I hadn't started the burner yet. Phone still works, but the screen is quite trippy to look at, and of course its what I took all my kilt build pictures with. And yes, the turkey was delicious.