Where to buy straps and buckles

[Barb T]

What are people's thoughts on the buckle side attaching with a small leather bit vs a wool attachment? I have two of each variant on my current four kilts.

For the ones at the waist, it doesn't matter at all - they're hidden under the kilt belt.

If you have a second buckle on the fringe edge, the tab WILL show, so it depends in part on how visible you want the tab to be. The advantage of a wool tab is that you can match the tartan, and if you do a good job, the tab is essentially invisible from anything more than a few feet away. A leather tab could be decorative, however, and you might like the look of that. But it will be glaringly obvious even from a distance as a dark rectangle on the tartan.

The other advantage of a wool tab is that it's easy to sew. A leather tab is also commonly machine stitched on, and, personally, I don't think that looks good on an otherwise hand sewn garment. But it could be punched and hand stitched decoratively. Again, you'd have to like the look.

Oh - and I always buy my buckles and straps from Highland Xpress, the site the Steve mentioned. They have both black straps with silver buckles and brown straps with brass buckles (which look very handsome on a kilt made from one of the weathered tartans).

Canvas I buy from B. Black and Sons in California (http://www.bblackandsons.com/heavy-w...ral-p-426.html). I buy Heavy Weight Hymo - it's great, comes 74" wide (1 yard is enough for 3 kilts!, which makes it VERY reasonable in price), and it's gridded, which makes cutting straight strips child's play!