face of fabric ??

[Pleater]

I thought that was the right way round - from right at the top to left at the bottom acording to our kilt guru Barb - I made a 'rule' - from the outer apron fastener to the left knee, so I'd remember


- hang on though, that is when it is being worn, so if you are looking at the apron of the kilt when it is hanging up then it is top left to lower right which is correct - I think the apron fastener to left knee is safest for those with dyslexia, like me.

The vessel with the pestle has the potion that is poison - the thingy from the whatsit has the brew that is true. Mnemonics do work, even when you don't want them to.

[RockyR]

When you're looking at the face of the fabric (with the width... typically 54 to 60" wide going up and down and the length going right to left), the face will have the lines running like this:

\\\\\\\\\\

The "WRONG" side of the fabric will have the lines going //////// this way.

[Riverkilt]

Wish I hadn't read this thread...curious and confused.

Checked my kilts. Of course Rocky's USA semi-trad goes the "official" way.

So do my two Macdonald tartan kilts from Kathy's Kilts.

But my X Marks tartan from Kathy and the weathered Gordon from Celtic Croft go the opposite way.

Wondering if its that big of a deal...?

Ron

[Barb T]

I'm a picky traditionalist, so I care. But, frankly, most people don't notice. And, for the last several years (this didn't used to be true, actually), I've gotten fabric from Lochcarron actually _labelled_ with the the front side as the one with the right-slanting twill line. This is a potential problem for traditionalists, but, as someone pointed out, modern weaving is so good that the right and wrong sides are typically quite equally perfect. Dalgliesh still folds their double-weave tartan with the right side (left slanting twill line) inside (that's the traditional way of folding expensive fabric so that the right side is protected from dirt and damage).

In the long run, it doesn't matter a jot to how a kilt looks or hangs. I wouldn't stress about it. I still intend to make kilts with a left slanting twill line, but, as long as the whole kilt is done to one slant, I wouldn't dump on someone for doing it the other way, particularly if, for some reason, the mill wove something that _looked_ a whole lot better on one side than the other.

Believe it or not, I've actually seen a kilt made with a back join that had the twill line going one way to the left of the center back and one way to the right of the center back! There's a picture of it in my book, and I've pasted it below (the red stripe is the center back). As you'll see, it has a colossal number of other pleating errors as well.


Barb

[RockyR]

HAHAHAHAHA..... You have to keep the little details in the front of your brain... if you forget 1 little thing (like making sure you're using the "face" side for BOTH ends of the kilt when you splice), you can really screw it up!

Nice pic Barb!