Fixing a pressing issue

[toadinakilt]

"Pressing" issue. I hope the mods don't kill this thread for the punnery :-P

I got Barb's awesome book for Christmas, and after flipping through it for about an hour I came across the end ssection where it talks about the proper pressing of a kilt. It showed a picture of a properly pressed kilt with nice straight pleats hanging even, and a picture of a kilt with the pleats hanging in bunches...

My kilt looks like the second picture...and has for awhile...

I hadn't realized that the pleats needed to be perfectly parallel while ironing...and according to the book, it is very hard to correct a mis-pressed kilt once the deed is done. And it has been done several times.

So. My question is this. I'm not much at stitching, and I'd rather not baste the pleats in every time I need to iron the kilt. So can I use a plethora of pins? Should I use a yardstick to make sure the pleats are aligned right before ironing? Answers to these questions and any other helpful hints are more than greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Southern Breeze]

So far the only one I've pressed is the one I made.I basted it almost to death.
I've pressed my Stillwaters with no problems. On the rest of my traditionals a steamer has been all thats needed so far.
I'm interested myself, basting is something I'd like to avoid if possible.

[Alan H]

I just hand-washed my Stillwaters and then hung them to dry. 24 hours hanging in the shower didn't get them dry (they quite dripping, at least) so into the dryer they went for about a half-hour. They came out looking OK, so I spent about 20 minutes, each to sharpen them up a bit and generally tidy sthings up. No basting.

I'll be watching this thread, though, as I'm going to have to press my "practice kilt" soon.

[Mike n NC]

Save the basting for the holiday cooking. Steam and a backing mitt are perfect for what you are talking about. Look up Jimmy's thread on the discount priced steamers at Home Depot or look around your local shops. I had one I paid $17 for and just picked up a larger one for $25.

Mike

[GlassMan]

I bought one of those steamers at Home Depot and it has worked great on my pleats. No basting required, just a good steaming every now and again!

[James Martin]

As it happens, I have just re-pressed a woolen kilt, and found it much easier than i feared.
I left it hanging in a damp room recently, and it got such an awful mouldy smell, I feltI could not wear it any more. Put it in the washmachine, intending to take it out well before the end of a short cycle, but forgot.
Luckily, it always used to be on the large side, and having shrunk, it is now just right!
It spent so long in the machine, there was no sign of any pleats at all, but I steam-ironed the pleats one by one, not such a lengthy job, and the result is fine. I used a wooden board about 1m x 1m, so that I could lay the kilt flat, whereas an a regular ironing board, it would have been impossible to do the job properly.

Previously, I pinned all the pleats together before washing a kilt; now I realize it is not necessary.

Martin,
in Grenoble, France

[Barb T]

Here are a few thoughts on pressing:

If a kilt really needs to have the pleats re-done because they've been pressed in the wrong place, you really need to press the fabric flat first (i.e., press the creases out using a damp press cloth and a lot of pressure, done on both sides of the fabric) and then refold all the pleats and press them properly. I think in this case that the only really good solution after pressing out the old pleats is to baste the pleats so that they stay exactly where you want them both during pressing and afterwards, while the fabric cools and dries. This is a major critical operation, and it's worth the time to baste so that the pleats don't slide back to where they've been pressed wrong from before. And truly, it you use big basting stitches, it doesn't take all that long to run a few lines of basting to hold the pleats.

On the other hand, if steaming your kilt has taken the wrinkles out but left the pleats not as crisp as you'd like, you can very carefully arrange the pleats on the ironing board and press them without basting. I do this all the time with our kilts.

I think I wouldn't pin and press, because pressing really involves _pressing_, not ironing. You'll wind up with pin marks all over the back of your kilt.

Cheers,

Barb