Planning for alterations when making a kilt

[roy croft]

Hi, folks.

I hope this is the appropriate forum for my post - I think it needs some thought by the experts. I'm going to start working on my first kilt soon. I was going to just buy a bespoke kilt, but I'm on a weight loss program, and don't want to spend that much money on a kilt that will not fit me properly in a year. Making my own would also teach me a lot about kilt construction, which will make me better informed when I do order the custom one later, so I don't see any major drawbacks to the plan.

My questions are: I know that the straps can be adjusted to compensate for a bit of weight loss, but it seems that is somewhat limited. I'm trying to think of other ways to fairly easily adjust the kilt to fit better and keep it balanced, and one thought is that I could make it with two pieces of fabric that are stitched together in the middle of the pleats, such as when making a kilt out of full width fabric, and then removing that center pleat later.

Is this feasible and worth the trouble?

Secondly, right now my waist measurement is approximately the same as my hip measurement, and I anticipate that I'll lose more belly fat than hip padding over the next year. From what I've gathered in my reading, that can be difficult to adjust for. Is there a strategy for building that kind of capability into a kilt?

I hope the answer to my questions is not "make it to fit you now, then make another one in a year", but if that's the case I can accept that. I'm going to make this first kilt out of lower cost material than 16oz tartan wool, for the very reason that I might "undergrow" it and end up replacing it.

I wear a Utilikilt now, and I like it, but I want a more traditional style kilt that sits higher.

Slàinte!

[The Wizard of BC]

It is almost always possible to make a kilt smaller. Even if you have to remove a pleat.

Making a kilt larger however is another problem. Unless you have planned for it from the start you simply don't have any more fabric to make a kilt larger.

There are ways to hide some extra fabric into your kilt. A few tricks are to make very large apron edge facings. Usually at a minimum one Sett in each of the two facing.
Another is to add a hidden pleat. Basically an extra pleat sewn directly behind another. This can then be unstitched and opened to reveal the extra pleat.

One of the easiest ways to plan for a weight shift is to adopt the idea of having the left strap inside the kilt. This way you do not put a strap hole in the kilt.
The strap is sewn inside on the left and the buckle is sewn to the under apron edge.
I began to do this when I became Regimental Kiltmaker to the Canadian Scottish Regt. They keep spare kilts in their supply stores. When a new troop signs in he is issued a kilt from the rack. If they do not have one in his exact size he is giveng the next larger size and directions to my shop. I can re-size a kilt made this way in under 5 minutes. I simply move the two right side buckles and the left strap.

You can also make a kilt too big in the first place. Then if you gain weight you move the straps and buckles till it fits.


The one thing you do not do is wear a kilt that is too small for you. The outer apron should overlap the under apron almost exactly. When you wear a kilt that is too small the outer apron cannot completely cover the under apron. it's not usually a problem for the first inch. The under apron just looks like another pleat.
But as soon as you reveal more than 2 inches of the under apron it becomes very evident that the kilt is too small.

So - rule of thumb - a bit bigger is far preferable than a bit small.

So - plan to have extra fabric hidden in the construction - or - make the kilt too big to start with.

But as your plan is to lose weight all you may need to do is adopt the internal left strap.

[roy croft]

Hi,

Thank you for your detailed and informative answer. My take from it is that I need not be concerned about removing a pleat later, as that is easy, and if I design the kilt so that the apron straps can easily be moved I should be in good shape.

What about a changing waist:hip ratio? It seems that to adjust for that would require repleating the whole kilt. Do I design for the middle ground now and know that it's going to be less than optimal at the extremes?

Slàinte!

[Pleater]

I decided to wear kilts when losing weight as I thought that it would be the easy option, rather than buying a succession of cheap garments in smaller sizes.

I did start out making standard kilts and just narrowing the visible part of the pleats from time to time. I pleated to the stripe to make it easier.

As time went on I simplified the construction, stopped sewing down the pleats and changed to Kingussie and then reverse Kingussie pleating.
Some pieces of fabric were remade four times as I lost 14 inches from my waist.

If your hip measurement remains the same and your waist narrows just baste the pleats at hip level then remove the waist band and narrow the upper part of the fell, replace the waistband and sew on the straps.

It would be best to make an internal fastening on the left, not making a buttonhole slit for the strap to go through, as that would be the easier option.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Grunthos]

Some pieces of fabric were remade four times as I lost 14 inches from my waist

Wow! That's a great accomplishment. Congratulations on your success!

[roy croft]

Thank you for your insights, Anne.

Based on Steve Ashton's reply I'm already planning on putting the left strap on the inside. Your discussion of how to adjust the pleats was really great. I've been putting off making/getting the new kilt because of my concern that it won't fit properly for long, but your and Steve's responses make me think that I can probably adjust a kilt I make without too much difficulty, so I think I'll proceed this fall with making my first kilt.

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go, but there's a wealth of information already in these fora, so I think I'll be fine without being too imposing.

Slàinte!