Whens an 8 yard ,not an 8 yard ?

[Freelander Sporrano]

I'm begining to understand...Obi wan..

[Jimmy Carbomb]

I've read somwhere that an 8 yard Kilt, is not necessarily 8 yards of material

A good rule of thumb is that for every ten inches in the hips, that translates to about two yards of material... for a good, tight traditional.

For casual kilts, every ten inches of the hips translates to about 1 1/2 yards of material... in order to have a heavy enough kilt NOT to fly away in a breeze.

Measure by the hips instead of the waist. Someone with 50" hips and a 44" waist will have some serious binding around the **** (if sewn by the smaller waist measurement)... and that's not pretty! Always make sure that there's MORE than needed to avoid "opening" pleats or "curling" front placards.

[Robbie]

As I understand it, what you get in material length depends entirely on what you order. If you just order a traditional kilt to your size, here in Scotland a widely used rule of thumb is that for up to about 30-32ins waist 6yds are used, 30-38ins waist has 7yds, 38-44ins waist has 8yds, and 44ins and over needs 9yds. The size of the sett decides the number and depth of pleats.

However, if you actually specify 8yds then that is what you should get (Trades Description Act, etc etc) and although the kiltmaker will start out with 8yds of material, the finished kilt will not actually measure the full 8yds round the longest edge (the bottom edge, straightening out the pleats) as some 4-9ins can be "lost" in hems, joins etc.

[Jerry]

I know that kilt making is not rocket science. And, I can do Fahrenheit to Celsius conversions, and simple Trig in my head, but this is all starting to sound a little confusing. My waist size and my hip size are nearly the same. measured at just about the naval and at the widest point of the hips. Both are between 47 and 48 inches. So, if I understand it, an "8 yard kilt to fit properly on me would actually have around 9 yards of material?

[bubba]

The amount of fabric would depend on the number, width and depth of the pleats.

[Mike1]

JerMc, there are a lot of variables that enter into the formula. My measures are not quite as big as yours, but still required 9 yards of material. (I think my kiltmaker commented that a 45" waist is the break between 8 and 9 yards.) I am having a traditional made from Lamont Ancient tartan, which is a centered tartan. Since the tartan is centered and the finished length was under 25", the kilt could be fashioned from 5 yards of double-width material. Some tartans would have required single-width material, instead.

If you are interested, PM me and I will send you the URL for my kiltmaker.

Peace,
Mike

[Hal]

Greetings!
To add to the confusion, I was told that the pleat depth will vary on the same tartan, depending on the pleating (To the sett or stripe).

I think pleating to the sett uses somewhat more material. The reason made sense when it was explained to me...But hell if *I* can explain it!

Sorry if this has wandered a bit off topic!

Hal