the old fell-in-stillwaters question

**yoippari** · 23rd November 05, 01:40 AM

I talked to a woman in class and she will swe a fell in my stillwater standard (for a fee). What all do I need to tell her?

How long should the fell be, is it sewn right at the bottom side of the edge of the pleat, will a machine work or hand stitch only for this, and should there be any taper in the fell or is it a straight up and down thing?

I have a art of kiltmaking book but I simply can't find it. I'm sure most of these are answered in there though.

**Jimmy Carbomb** · 23rd November 05, 08:12 AM

You're dealing with the old Standard models that already have some tacking along the fell line... so she only needs to sew from the cap down to the stitch (which is about 1/3 the length of the kilt usually).

She can either hand-sew it so that you don't see any stitches, OR she can simply machine sew along the edge of each pleat, and then iron them relatively flat.

Stillwater kilt material has some "play" in it, so the taper is not always necessary unless you have a waist that's WAY smaller than the hips. For the most part, the things will expand enough with the buckles and material "give" so that a difference of 4 to 8 inches won't be a problem. This comes from the experience of altering a LOAD of Stillwater kilts.
Good luck!

**Sherry** · 23rd November 05, 08:56 AM

Thanks, Jimmy. That helps me out too.

Sherry

**yoippari** · 23rd November 05, 09:27 AM

Is the cap the top or where the is a stitching at the bottom of the waistband? Because there is also no stitching holding down individual pleats at the waistband. So the 8" (1/3 of 24") of stitching should be 8" from the top or should it be 8" minus the waistband?

**Jimmy Carbomb** · 23rd November 05, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by yoippari

Is the cap the top or where the is a stitching at the bottom of the waistband? Because there is also no stitching holding down individual pleats at the waistband. So the 8" (1/3 of 24") of stitching should be 8" from the top or should it be 8" minus the waistband?

Without looking at one at the moment, memory will have to serve that the lowest "tacking line" is just above the belt loop bottom at the back. You'll see a stitch that runs the entire kilt there and serves as a waistband stitch.

Sewing each individual pleat will be from the bottom of the cap (at the top of the kilt) down about 7". I have a Standard that I did this to (for maintenance purposes) and it's really not difficult since the material is easy to work with. Just make sure to have the tartan lined-up when you're doing this. The materials "stretchability" can make it so that the pattern moves during sewing. Just go slow and be sure to watch that the tartan stays in line.

If you do go down 8", it may take away from some of the sway in the pleats... and may also make the fit a little tight around the hips. If you go 6" or 7" down, it will be enough to keep things in order and allow for pleat movement.

**Sherry** · 23rd November 05, 11:35 AM

On the Nightstalker I bought for my DS, there is no waistband per se. There is a narrow strip sewn around the top to finish the raw edge of the top. The pleats fall free from the top edge.

Sherry

**yoippari** · 23rd November 05, 12:19 PM

Well, the kilt is a little too big since I am boarderline between 36 and 38 so I ordered 38. The pleats never lined up. They are all about 1/8" to 1/4" from lining up. I am actually entertaining the idea of taking apart the waistband at some point and adding a taper. It fits well around the hips now but I get a lot of wandering pleats where my butt is trying to sperate them.

I am not actually sewing it. A woman in my public speaking class does ren faires and does quite a bit of sewing. I just need to know what all information she needs. She will be doing it over the christmas break which for us is about 4 weeks.