Help with Droopy Apron

[Barb T]

Hi Arnot,

Can you post a rear view, plus the person's measurements for hips and waist, plus the actual measurements across the apron at waist and hips and across the pleats at waist and hips? Also, could you lay the kilt out on the floor or a table and take a pic of the apron and pleats in one landscape view?

In terms of alteration, it could be that just the apron needs altering, if the kiltmaker put too much in the hips - this could easily give rise to a "wave" across the apron. But, if it's the case that the waist fits fine in the pleats but there's too much in the hips (which would more likely give a "wave" in the pleats, rather than in the apron), that's not something that a simple alteration will solve because you would have to alter each pleat and make it smaller at the hips but not at the waist. Taking out a couple pleats is not the answer for two reasons. First, taking out pleats simultaneously makes the kilt smaller in the waist and the hips, which is a non-starter if the kilt actually fits OK in the waist. Second, because the pleats are cut out, removing pleats leaves you with nothing for the deep pleat or inverted pleat toward the top of the kilt unless you literally cut off the apron and underapron and seam them back onto the pleats section once you have removed the pleats you want to get rid of.

Maybe once I see more pics, there's a simple solution. Was the kilt made for this person, or is it a hand-me-down band kilt made for someone who is a different shape?