Hello Stitch. I sew kilts too, but I am Pleater from making English smocks which have multiple small pleats and traditional embroidery - I also make other garments, patchwork in the English style and do yarn crafts, knitting, crochet, macrame and braiding, even a bit of weaving to keep me out of mischief.
It seems to be a lot easier to get hold of wool here in England without paying dearly for it, so I can spin yarn to make what are probably very inauthentic caps for re-enactors who wear metal helmets and buy good wool cloth for my own clothing - if I didn't make it myself I couldn't afford to wear it.
I have made kilts from 'lesser' fabrics, quite successfully as long as the cloth will hold a pleat but is not too rigid. but they do not last like wool - even so the best ones will last ten years, so worth the effort of doing a good job with careful shaping and sturdy stabiliser.
Anne the Pleater
I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed."
-- The Hon. Stuart Ruaidri Erskine, The Kilt & How to Wear It, 1901.
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