Newbie pleat stitch question

**RockyR** · 2nd April 13, 10:24 AM

The kilt is made in Pakistan and entirely machine sewn. The basting stitches shown in Jock Scott's post (which I'm sure is a Scottish made 8 yard kilt knowing Jock) are hand sewn in and easily removed. The ones shown in James' post look to be machine sewn, which is why there's a difference. They both serve the same purpose (holding the pleats in place during ironing and shipping) and should be carefully removed.

**Jock Scot** · 2nd April 13, 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by RockyR

The kilt is made in Pakistan and entirely machine sewn. The basting stitches shown in Jock Scott's post (which I'm sure is a Scottish made 8 yard kilt knowing Jock) are hand sewn in and easily removed. The ones shown in James' post look to be machine sewn, which is why there's a difference. They both serve the same purpose (holding the pleats in place during ironing and shipping) and should be carefully removed.

Nearly, but not quite Rocky!

To put you out of your "misery", Paul Henry used 9 yards in that gem.

Out of interest is it usual to have machine sown basting stitches in machine sewn kilts? No criticism in any way, but I ask out of pure interest

**RockyR** · 2nd April 13, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

Nearly, but not quite Rocky!

To put you out of your "misery", Paul Henry used 9 yards in that gem.

Out of interest is it usual to have machine sown basting stitches in machine sewn kilts? No criticism in any way, but I ask out of pure interest

To answer your question, yes and no. Most machine sewn 8 yard kilts are hand finished (lining, basting stitches, etc), so in that instance, no. Some DO have machine sewn basting stitches, but it's generally done on a specific type of machine that puts in a running stitch which is easy to pull out. It's much less common for line of stitching done like the one shown here. It won't hurt the kilt... it just makes it a bit trickier to take the stitches out.

**scotswelshrunner** · 2nd April 13, 04:08 PM

It took me about 20 minutes to take the stitches out on this one. Certainly tighter than I expected but I'm now learning and that was something I'm glad happened.

**TheOfficialBren** · 3rd April 13, 05:25 PM

As a side note, my acryllic from Stillwater did come with basting stitches but my P/V from USAK did not. No worries as there was no need. The pleats looked great right out of the package.

Not all kilts come with them but most, I imagine, do and this can vary from maker to maker and even from product line to product line.

The basting on your kilt are identical to the basting stiches that came with my Stillwater.