Canvas Kilt, ACK!!!!

[The Wizard of BC]

DO NOT start in on the X Marks Tartan as your first try.

Get any plaid fabric you can find cheap and sew pleats, sew pleats, sew pleats.
I would advise you sew at least 50 and perhaps 100 pleats for practice before attacking expensive kilt fabric.

That little reverse pleat you want to leave out on your canvas kilt - Don't. There is a reason it's there. If I have the chance, I add more of them and make them bigger.

[Alan H]

OK gentlemen, advice taken. I have to sew the "extra"....the other half of the double-wide material that I bought, onto my kilt, so I'll make sure to put enough in for a good-sized reverse pleat as well. I've pleated up to the end of the fabric I have right now, so I'm going to trim a couple of inches off so that the seam where I join the two pieces is hidden at the bottom of one of the pleats. That'll be a little bit tricky, but should'nt be too hard.

Robert, I'm sewing this baby up my mothers 1940's vintage Singer straight-stitch! Well, OK. I admit that I finished one raw edge with my wifes Husqevarna, doing three rows of zig-zag. But that edge is hidden inside the kilt. Everything else is courtesy of Mom's machine. I LOVE mom's machine. It's the best non-commercial straight-stitch machine I've ever sewn on. My ONLY reservation is that there's not a whole lot of room under the arm to squeeze fabric through, so I spend time rolling up stuff pretty tightly so that it fits.

OK, I will look around for some budget material to build a practice hand-sewn kilt with before I bite off the X Marks tartan. Hmmm, maybe two. I've had a hankering for a Holyrood tartan kilt, anyway.

Robert, I asked for 3 yards of X Marks tartan, so I'll have a 6 yard kilt.

[LordDamax]

Few things as I read this thread... Barb's book is a moderate help in making a modern kilt. Some pleating techniques, some troubleshooting techniques... but it's more geared on how to hand-sew a traditional.

You're gonna want a large hidden pleat, it helps with a curling apron. I need to fix one of my kilts that curls.

If you intend to sew in the pleats so you dont need to iron it, IRON THE PLEATS FIRST.

I did that with my first kilt, and it worked great. I got lazy and didnt iron it for the second, and my lines were off andhad to rip a bunch of seams and re-sew them.

When you measure your hips, measure them, THEN SIT DOWN. I learned that from Rocky's website I believe. My first kilt is tight and the pleats pull when I sit. The second I made fits perfect when sitting. If your fabric doesnt stretch, as canvas doesnt, you're gonna be in trouble.

Some cotton canvas shrink like hell. 4 yards shrinking and losing 16 inches sounds about right to me.

Um thats all I got. I'll have to post pics of my homemade kilts soon.

[chasem]

This just sparked a question I had, when making a 6 yard kilt from 3 yards of double width (for example), its it possible to keep a selvedged edge, or will it nearly always require a hem?

(Speaking of tartan fabrics, I mean)

[Alan H]

This just sparked a question I had, when making a 6 yard kilt from 3 yards of double width (for example), its it possible to keep a selvedged edge, or will it nearly always require a hem?

(Speaking of tartan fabrics, I mean)

The canvas I bought has a slightly fuzzy-edged, but acceptable selvedge. It wouldn't cut it on a real traditional kilt, but on this canvas one, it's fine, so I'm not hemming it. Besides, I think the extra thickness wouldn't look so great, but I'm just guessing on this. In a lighter twill maaterial I think a hem would work out just fine.

But I'm just mouthing off on that aspect of it, 'cause I've never done it.

Lord Damax, the stretch in the material is a very good question/issue. Well, we shall see, eh?

Looks like I will have made three kilts before I bite off the project with the X Marks tartan.

[chasem]

Well yes, I presumed it would work on solids, as the color would match perfectly at the selvedge. But right now I'm operating on the assumption that the tartan will not always, or more accurately - rarely, match up at the opposite selvedges, therefore they would require a hem if using double width cloth.

Is this accurate?

[LordDamax]

Lord Damax, the stretch in the material is a very good question/issue. Well, we shall see, eh?

Looks like I will have made three kilts before I bite off the project with the X Marks tartan.

My first was made with doc cloth from walmart... not as heavy as a UK workmans, but I assumed it'd be good enough for a work-like kilt.

Measured my hips just right, pleated it right, and standing it looks good... sitting... the pleats pull really bad.

I think it's not as much an issue with a wool kilt, as wool is a bit stretchier than canvas.

My second kilt was a cammo fabric, the hard, non-stretchy stuff the army uses. Added 3 inches (measure, sit, remeasure) and it fits just right sitting.

[HeathBar]

Alan,
I think what Chasem is showing is a tartan that was not "evenly spaced" in the loom. So when he cuts, flips, and puts the slevedge ends to the bottom, there might be a bold stripe or pin stripe, that do not line up. Then you would have to trim it and hem it. I ran into that problem on a kilt I have in the works.

Someone else pointed out to me (Jimmy Carbomb I think) , pay attention to the twill lines in the material. If you look close you will see the diagonal lines. When the two peices of material are sewn together, make sure the twill lines are all running in the same direction.

[toadinakilt]

My first was made with doc cloth from walmart... not as heavy as a UK workmans, but I assumed it'd be good enough for a work-like kilt.

Measured my hips just right, pleated it right, and standing it looks good... sitting... the pleats pull really bad.

I think it's not as much an issue with a wool kilt, as wool is a bit stretchier than canvas.

My second kilt was a cammo fabric, the hard, non-stretchy stuff the army uses. Added 3 inches (measure, sit, remeasure) and it fits just right sitting.

added three inches? where? in some random place? i do not understand...

[Gaian]

I have read this thread with a great deal of interest. Thanks to the kilt makers that have responded. It is great to see that everyone is willing to help.

I have made about 25 contemporary kilts now. Trying to find the right formula and pattrern. You guys oare on the right track. I will have to post some pics so you can see but that wil be another thread.

I had a Utilikilt Chocolate Workman's. I sold it because I did not like the stiffness of the material even after many washings. The good news is I had bought it used and sold it for more than Paid for it! Gotta love that. I did take the time to examine the way it was made. The pleats were nice and deep but at the waist they were spaced 1 7/8" apart. so making this , for my 43" waist about a 5 yard kilt. There were 2 hidden pleats behind each apron so that thee was enough fabric there to fall between the knees no matter how you sat. This was a good thing. Apron was about 10 inches wide. I liked this feature. Wide aprons do not dothis quite so well. One reason to like the contemorary kilt. On my own kilts I prefer to have more pleats and more fabric. I like the feel and the "swing" something I feel is necessary for a proper kilt. Understand that the heavier and stiffer the fabric and the more pleats you have the harder it is going to be to wear, ;et alone trying to sew 8 layers of that heavy duc all at once.

I commend you on your atempt at making one. Good for you! It iwll get easier after the learning curve.

You may want to try making a pattern first. I taped together lengths of paper to make five yard and started experimenting that way. You can tape pin the pleats in place. If it doesn't work out you have lost nothing but time. Give it a try if you are not willing to commit to doing all the math. Then all you have to do is use your paper kilt foe measuremnts and for pleat placement.