What's Your Sewing Experience?

**MacHummel** · 5th October 05, 05:11 PM

The first kilt I ever made was a denim kilt I went to Value Village and found 10 yrds for 3.00. I have a mother who is a seamtress so she got a ton of phone calls about how to make pleats. The needle of a sewing machine moves very fast and when it goes throw flesh it causes a lot of pain so lesson 1 if it bleeds keep it away from the pointy thing. Besides that in the beginning the worst part for me was taking accurate measurmnts( I have a kilt or two that are too long or too short) and using those number to make a kilt I'm no math expert so you can imagine the frustration when you are working with 6 yrds of fabric and you constantly ripping in apart to fix a mistake by a 1/4 of an inch.I still pull my hair out at times especially when I'm doing spilts and I have a million and one things going through my mind.
But when I finally got it I was like a kid that road a bike without training wheels for the first time I didn't want to stop. I owe a lot to my mother for sticking by the phone and a special wife who put up with my stuff.
In all my sewing experiences have been educational and fun.
MacHummel

**starbkjrus** · 5th October 05, 05:38 PM

I'm just trying to teach myself to sew. (Don't even ask why we have a sewing macine) I'm not about to attempt a kilt - I can't even get the needle to pick up the bobbin thread without sewing the fabric to the bobbin.

Sign me: Getting REALLY fed up with sewing. Please PM me if anyone has an idea.

**bubba** · 5th October 05, 09:58 PM

Originally Posted by starbkjrus

I'm just trying to teach myself to sew. (Don't even ask why we have a sewing macine) I'm not about to attempt a kilt - I can't even get the needle to pick up the bobbin thread without sewing the fabric to the bobbin.

Sign me: Getting REALLY fed up with sewing. Please PM me if anyone has an idea.

Sounds to me like your machine needs some fixing. Take it in for cleaning and adjusting.

**bubba** · 5th October 05, 10:02 PM

I'd made some outfits for my wife and a few odds and ends before I made my first kilt. Mostly I've used my Baby Lock machine.

**starbkjrus** · 6th October 05, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by bubba

Sounds to me like your machine needs some fixing. Take it in for cleaning and adjusting.

Bubba, I wish I could use that excuse but the machine is brand new. It's only been used once by my Partner's daughter to make a set of curtains for the breakfast room when she was visting in August. She had no trouble with it whatsoever. But she's a dressmaker by profession.

It seems to be me but I'll keep plugging at it. :confused:

**bubba** · 6th October 05, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by starbkjrus

Bubba, I wish I could use that excuse but the machine is brand new. It's only been used once by my Partner's daughter to make a set of curtains for the breakfast room when she was visting in August. She had no trouble with it whatsoever. But she's a dressmaker by profession.

It seems to be me but I'll keep plugging at it. :confused:

If you don't have the manual for the machine get a copy from the manufacturer. Pay close attention to the tension settings and threading. Be sure the bobbin thread is run properly and make sure you have the needle threaded the right way. Be sure you have the thread run correctly from the spool to the needle. Follow the manual step by step setting up the machine until you're completely familiar with it. My guess is you may be threading the needle backwards or the bobbin is improperly set up.

**Eujeankilt** · 6th October 05, 07:46 PM

I dabbled with sewing as a kid. After buying my first kilt I decided to try my hand at making a kilt. Friends had given us a Singer and I took it in and had it serviced. My first attempt was to try to sew the edge of a pleat on a scrap of material. Then I sewed the pleats down on my flannel Sportkilt.

I found directions online and bought some cotton poly twill for my first project. I made two kilts from that fabric and I wear the second one.

I had no prior sewing experience but I've used many tools and I learn quickly. I learned that it's easy to make a kilt. I also learned that it's much more difficult to make a kilt that looks good. I appreciate the kilts I buy more now than ever!

Dale

**Sherry** · 7th October 05, 10:58 AM

Wow! Thanks for all the replies & great stories, guys & gals.

While I have not made a kilt from flat fabric up, I did have to work on the kilt my oldest wears. His was passed on to him from the daughter of the man who began the Clan Gunn Society of North America. The kilt was 35 years old when we received it a couple of years ago, & the front apron was very stained & moth-eaten. To make the kilt wearable, I had to serge up both aprons & switch them so that the under apron became the front. I hid the seams in the side pleats. I had to undo the upper lining across the aprons to do this. I also had to do some patching on the original front apron to strenthen the fabric.

As I worked on the kilt, I was able to examine the fine handwork used to make the kilt, & replicate it as I put the kilt back together. Seeing that really helped me appreciate all the work that goes into making a quality kilt.

Thanks again to all of you. I really enjoyed reading your posts.

Sherry

**Alan H** · 5th October 05, 05:42 PM

Don't like needles? Tired of pushing needles through six layers of heavy twill?

Try a sailmakers Palm...

http://www.beaconfabric.com/vindex.html?cat278.htm

Or for a REALLY nice one ( I have this one) order from the Wooden Boat Foundation. These are British and EXCELLENT quality for the price..

http://www.woodenboat.org/store/folder.asp?f=255

I have the "Store Quality Seaming Palm" and it's a beauty. I bought it and soaked it in warm water for 2-3 hours. Then I taped it on my hand and wore it all day. fits perfectly, never slips...I love that palm. I restitched twelve feet of ripped out luff on the mainsail of an Islander 36 with that palm.

**richardljohnson** · 5th October 05, 05:46 PM

8 yards of black cotton duck on sale at Walmart for $.85 a yard. This was a test.

After this I found some camo fabric on sale and made 13 kilts of green, grey, sand and my favorite rust(black and white) autumn camo.

All were using a machine. I did try 1 hand sewn but too many mistakes. Lucky for me it was from a fabric warehouse on sale for $5.00 a yard and not the $50.00 a yard it normally sold for.

It's been a year and I am getting the 'bug' again so no telling what I'll try next.

Richard-