Starting on my first kilt

[Alan H]

16 ounce polyester-viscose? Are you SURE it's that heavy?

Personally, I'd just hem it. Do it by hand of course, so that you can hide the stitches.

[Schultz]

16 ounce polyester-viscose? Are you SURE it's that heavy?

Oops, guess I wasn't clear in my origina post. This isn't PV, but actual 16 oz. wool.

[Barb T]

Hi guys

You _don't_ want to serge the edge, because the bottom edge of the kilt will look really odd, particularly if you do all of the rest of the trad kiltmaking. I wouldn't hesitate at all to put a hem in this tartan. All of our band kilts are 16 oz tartan, and, while the adults have kilts w/o hems, all of the kids have hems in their kilts so that we can let them down. Pressed well, you can't really tell. The real key is a good iron, a wet press cloth, and lots of elbow grease to get a good press. No problem, though!!

Barb

[Schultz]

Okay, hemming it is, then. Thanks, Barb!

[Pleater]

A hem might be a help to keeping the pleats, and as a guide for future pressings.

The hem is (obviously) on the outside of the fold as you look at the kilt from the inside. This is the inner, hidden fold of the underpleat.

If you sew through the fabric of the hem at exactly the point where it should fold it will give you a permanent guide for basting, pressing etc. but there will be nothing visible from the outside. Don't sew right to the edge or a little 'pinch' will be visible, you only need two or three running stitches, and they don't even have to be pulled all that tight.

Only mark the normal not the larger pleats.

Pleater

[Schultz]

The work has begun! I spent Saturday doing the measuring, ripping and marking and basted the apron edges and did my first pleat last night. Everything looks good at the present. We'll see how things turn out after I've done a few pleats. I'm supposed to be getting together with some friends to do some gaming tonight but the wife has the car for massage therapy class. If no one can give me a ride to and from my friend's house, I'll have four uninterrupted hours to work on my kilt.

[Schultz]

Update:

I have just a 6 more pleats out of 35 (whew!) to do before i finish off the backside.

At what point in construction should I hem this sucker? Should I do it after completing the basic construction (reverse pleat/underapron) or wait until the very end?

How deep of a hem should I use, too?

[Alan H]

The work has begun! I spent Saturday doing the measuring, ripping and marking and basted the apron edges and did my first pleat last night. Everything looks good at the present. We'll see how things turn out after I've done a few pleats. I'm supposed to be getting together with some friends to do some gaming tonight but the wife has the car for massage therapy class. If no one can give me a ride to and from my friend's house, I'll have four uninterrupted hours to work on my kilt.

Ahhh, the voyage continues! :-)

Keep us updated.

[pdcorlis]

I admire the skill and courage of all our kilt makers! I also have to give a big tip of the hat to Barb T - without her book I wonder how many well made kilts would be cranked out by our XMarks brothers and sisters.