Looking for advice on ordering tartan

[Flyboy]

Hello I’m new to kilt making and have ordered Ms Tewksbury’s book. I would love to start and order my tartan but as My book is not here and I’m unsure of how much tartan to order. I’m assuming the book explains how to figure that out. I’d like to make a traditional 8 yard Knife pleated kilt, now I’m widest at my hips at 43 inches. So should I order just 8 yards or Will I need more? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dick Jones

[The Wizard of BC]

In general there are four factors which determine how much fabric a kilt will need.

1) The circumference of your hips.

The larger you are, the more fabric needed to go around you. In general we say that under 45 inches = 4 yards of double-width fabric. Over Between 45 and 50 inches = 4.5 yards of double-width fabric. Greater than 50 inches = 5 yards of double-width fabric.

2) The way that you plan to fold the fabric into pleats.

We call a knife pleated kilt with pleat reveals of between 5/8 inch and 3/4 inch an 8 yard kilt.
We call a knife pleated kilt with pleat reveals of greater than 1 inch a 5 yard kilt.
We call a box pleated kilt a 4 yard kilt.

3) The size of the Sett of the Tartan. (Which Tartan and the weight of the fabric you choose)

The larger the Sett = the more fabric each pleat requires.
The average Sett size is about between 6.5 inches and 7.25 inches.

4) How you want the Tartan pattern to display in the pleats.

If you are folding the fabric so the same element of the Tartan is down each pleat we call this "Display to Stripe". Each pleat will require one full Sett of fabric.
If you are folding the fabric so the entire Tartan is duplicated in the pleats we call this "Display to Sett". Each pleat will require one full Sett of fabric + one pleat extra.
So, Display to Sett requires slightly more fabric.

You have given us your hip circumference but we need the the other three things to know exactly how much fabric you will need.

[Flyboy]

Thanks so much for replying,

43 inches at widest
Knife pleated 8 yard
Pleated to the sett
Width of sett ? Was looking to use DC Dalgliesh 13 ounce “Lindsay” Modern. I’ve googled it but can’t find the length of the sett online.

Does the length of the sett vary between mills? And can one find the length of the sett in a particular tartan on line?

Thanks

[Flyboy]

I went on Dalgliesh’s website and snooped a bit more, Under specifications for the Lindsay tartan it says it has a 12.5 cm repeat. Is that the size of the sett?

[Barb T]

Yes - that is the sett size (repeat) listed by one particular mill, but there is no guarantee that the mill that you order tartan from would weave with the same sett size.

Here's my advice. Don't stress. Because you want to make an 8-yard trad kilt, my advice would be to order either 4 or 4 1/4 yards double width. For someone of your size, there is no reason why you can't make a kilt for yourself out of 8 yards of tartan (4 yards double width). If you ordered 4 1/4 yards, you'd have a bit more flexibility in layout, but it wouldn't be essential to making a good looking kilt. I personally don't think you need to know in advance how you intend to pleat the kilt, or even what the sett size is*. If the tartan has a larger sett, you will have fewer, wider pleats. If you pleat to the stripe, you will have more pleats (typically 2-4 more than pleating to the sett), and they will be narrower. You do what the tartan permits you to do, and you have a kilt.


*Even if it is one of the few tartans with a ginormous sett, say 11-16" (and the Modern Lindsay is not one of them), I would not order a lot more tartan just because the sett is huge. I would find a way to pleat the tartan to use an ordinary amount of tartan for the person's size. In other words, if I had tartan with a 15" sett, I wouldn't order 5 yards double width just to make the pleats smaller - someone your size doesn't want to carry that much tartan around in the pleats of the kilt. I would, though, order 1/4 yard more than I normally would just because a bit more tartan gives you flexibility in the center front stripe and in making the center back join (and you need that flexibility if the sett is really big).

Oh - BTW - Dalgliesh doesn't weave 13 oz tartan (they weave only 11 oz and 16 oz tartan). And they don't weave the Modern Lindsay at all except as a custom weave. The sett size they list for custom woven 16 oz Modern Lindsay is 17.8 cm (7"). I think you must have been looking at the 11 oz Lindsay, but it's also only available as a custom weave. And I would advise a heavier weight for a kilt for a man if the tartan is available in heavier weight. Lochcarron carries Modern Lindsay in heavy weight as a stock weave.

[Flyboy]

Barb,
Thank you so much for your help, I went and ordered the tartan. Now about the 13 ounce from Dalgliesh, I originally only saw the 11 and 16 ounce on there website as you say, but because I don’t have a trade account, the Dalgliesh website transfers you to their retail arm for the non trade purchases, it’s called Clan by scotweb. Once on that page more options In the Lindsay came up and one of them is a 13 ounce Lindsay modern. Which is what I ordered. Now I’m wondering what i ordered and if it’s even from Dalgliesh maybe this “retail arm” of theirs carries various cloths from various mills? I must says I’m a bit perplexed by this. At any rate I guess I’ll see when it arrives, fingers crossed!

[Barb T]

clan.com sells tartan from many mills. The site does actually say enough about each tartan option to tell you who weaves the tartan if you know the following "code". If you click "More Info" for any tartan listing:

• Lochcarron weaves the ranges called Strome (16 oz), Braeriach (13 oz), and Reiver (10 oz)
• Marton Mills weaves the ranges called Jura (16 oz), Bute (13 oz), and Glamis (10.5 oz)
• Strathmore weaves the ranges called W60 (13 oz) and T7 (11 oz).
• House of Edgar does not have a fancy name for their standard medium weight range, but it is single width with a perfect kilting selvedge, so it's easy to tell (custom weaves are also single width, but they are a LOT more expensive)

House of Edgar, Strathmore, and Lochcarron all weave Modern Lindsay in 13 oz. The tartan from HoE is single width, and the tartan from Lochcarron and Strathmore is double width. Which did you order?

[Flyboy]

Barb,
since I ordered the 13 oz single width and with the info you have kindly given me I must deduce that the tartan must be from House of Edgar. Since the others only come in double and my 8 metre purchase was under £230, I think a custom weave would have been more expensive. At any rate the tartan is on its way and I’m glad of it.

I have been looking through the forum and been reading about your Kilt Camp and hope to attend next year, provided there’s space and the US/CAN border opens up by that point. I was planning on going to a kilt school in Keith, UK for 12 day introductory kilt making course earlier in the spring but alas the Covid 19 put a wrinkle in that plan.

Once again thank you very much for all your help it’s truly appreciated.

Dick Jones

[Barb T]

Hi Dick,

Yup - you have HoE tartan (8 yards of custom weave would have set you back more than twice that!). You will really like HoE tartan. The "hand" is really nice, and the selvedge is gorgeous. And because it's single width, you don't need to stress about a center back join.

We will definitely do Kilt Kamp next summer in Upstate New York. Where are you in Canada? The course is a bargain, and, once you know how to make a kilt, you can hone your skills on your own. And we have a LOT of fun. Crossing fingers the pandemic will be behind us.

Oh - just saw you're in Woodstock, Ontario. Not all that far from here!

My dad was Canadian and grew up in one of the inundation villages along the St. Lawrence just upstream from Cornwall.

Barb

[Flyboy]

Barb,

I’m pleased you feel that it’s a going to be a quality tartan, knitted self edged and no joining to boot! And hopefully the COVID will be far behind us, I work in the airline industry and I’m more and more doubtful about that one unfortunately But fingers crossed. You’re half Canadian, Then you’re from good people as my Grandmother Campbell would say! Once again thanks for your help.

Dick