Help with Kilt Aprons

**Arnot** · 29th October 13, 02:15 AM

I recently finished my second kilt (shown below). The fabric is 16oz pure new wool from Lochcarron. I used The Art of Kiltmaking and it turned out fairly well. I hit a snag, however, when I attempted to press the aprons. There were a few wrinkles that needed a touch-up. When I did it, I wound up with “ripples” which I can’t seem to get out. I have done this before on my other kilts and never had a problem. At this point, I am not sure what to do about it. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any input will be greatly appreciated.

**bonnie heather** · 29th October 13, 04:23 AM

Actually, I just pressed the apron of a kilt I'm working on. Like yours, it's 16 oz. Lochcarron. I do my pressing flat on my work table, using a double thickness of bath towels under the kilt to protect the table. It works much better than an ironing board because there's no pull on the tartan from the weight of the kilt hanging off the sides of an ironing board.
Also, I soak and squeeze out my press cloth to keep the moisture even on the woolen fabric. If the wrinkle is stubborn, while the wool is still a bit damp and warm, I put a wooden board on that area and lean on it for a minute or two. It usually works.

**flyrod6057** · 29th October 13, 09:42 PM

Steam (via press cloth) and pressure should help work it out. Wool is tremendously wonderful stuff to work with!

**Arnot** · 30th October 13, 07:56 AM

Many thanks for the suggestions. I think using the board will be the answer as I am dealing with ripples (bubbles?) in the fabric rather than wrinkles. Thanks again.

**bonnie heather** · 30th October 13, 08:58 AM

I forgot to mention that of course it helps to let the tartan lie flat on the table to dry and cool off for a little while after pressing and leaning on the board.
By the way, the board also helps immensely when pressing the pleats. I used to spend a LOT of time pressing down hard with my iron trying to make the pleats sharp enough. But just a minute or so with the board makes nice sharp pleats.

**Barb T** · 2nd November 13, 04:59 PM

Arnot emailed me this afternoon about this, and it's more of a problem than seems to be solvable by simple pressing, even with lots of steam and a clapper/board. I suggested doing a test by flipping the kilt over and pressing directly (no press cloth) with a steam iron in the center of the back side of the apron where it's single thickness and leaving the kilt to cool without moving it. That seemed to help some but didn't entirely solve the problem, which it should have with any normal piece of tartan.

I'm wondering if this piece of tartan was woven with uneven loom tension, which can create "bubbles" in the final fabric. This is something that doesn't show up until after the tension is off the loom. It's almost impossible to get rid of. Because this piece of tartan was acquired on eBay, it's remotely possible that it was being sold there because it was a "second" because of a weaving error like this.

**bluebonnet** · 2nd November 13, 11:41 PM

Just on the off chance that it was an "ironing malfunction", you could try some Mary Ellen's Best Press spray on the inside of the apron - let it sit for a few minutes to allow the fabric to relax back into it's orginal tension then try ironing it again. I use this stuff for all my quilting and sometimes the fabric gets pulled a little out of skew and it causes all sorts of probelms with it laying flat etc. I spray a little Best Press on and the wrinkles disappear, the over heated stretch goes back into the original tension or the bias is held a little firmer as I'm sewing.

I love this stuff... I use it on my dancing kilt... lends itself to providing a little dirt resistance without the stiffness of either starch or scotch guard and it helps with my pleats in staying crisp ( I used it on my uniform as well.. no flakes or residue)