Weight loss and Kilt Size

[David Thornton]

See, we do need a kilt adoption agency, a place wher you could place those great kilts and pick up some smaller ones.

Or you could realize the gift you have been given and just get new.

David

[Barb T]

A standard kilt alteration involves changing the size of just the apron and underapron. For a small alteration (maybe an inch or so on each side), the resulting disparity in size between the apron and the pleats won't be noticeable. For a 6" change, though, that would be 3" on each side. If you did a standard alteration, you'd have a kilt with an apron that looked skimpy in comparison to the pleats.

So, you'd need to do an alteration that involves taking out at least one or two pleats on each side as well as altering the apron and underapron. Because the extra fabric is cut out in the pleats, you can't simply transfer what was in the pleats to the apron, so the alteration would not only involve taking out pleats but putting in two joins, one on each side of the pleats and stitching the apron and underapron back on as separate pieces.

All in all, this is a major alteration project. Can you do it yourself? Yes, if you would be willing to make your own kilt, because taking your kilt apart and altering it will involve essentially re-making the kilt. If you wanted to have a go at it, you could buy my book and just follow the kilt-making instructions (and I could help you figure out where to start and how much you'd have to un-do). If you want to hire someone else to do it, you'll need to find a kiltmaker. An average seamstress won't know what to do or how to do it properly. But, realize that this is such a major reconstruction that it might cost nearly as much to have done as the original labor in the kilt!

All in all, I'd sell the sucker and get a new one that fits right! Good celebration for having lost so much weight!

Barb

[gemboy12]

I went through a similar situation. The Kiltmaker I went to ,rather that cut the apron, folded the excess fabric back. That way if my son is bigger than me when he inherits the kilt , it won't be such an problem to modify for him.

Good job on dropping the weight!

Jim Barringer

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Jim,

That will work, but only for small adjustments. If you take inches out of the aprons, without taking inches out of the pleats, you will wind up with a discrepency. A 2" or 3" discrepency is no big deal (and depending on the build of the man, may actually be beneficial for the look of the kilt).

But 6" is quite a bit. In the cast of a kilt with a waist of 40", you can assume that the aprons are 20" and the pleats are 20". Taking in the aprons by 6" would mean having 14" aprons and 20" pleats -- in other words, the pleated portion of the kilt would come around the front. In order to really preserve the correct look of the kilt, you'd need to alter it, in the way Barb detailed, so that the aprons and pleats are 17" each.

M

[646guy]

And your kilt has a loving home waiting for it here at my chapter of the Kilt Adoption Agency with a comfy hangar and lots of love...

Seriously though if you do decide to sell it, shoot me a PM and let's talk

[Barb T]

BTW - I must be a whole lot slower than Matt is! It takes me about 4 hours to do a regular alteration. If I had to start taking pleats out and doing additional joins, that estimate could easily double. I find that just doing a proper job on basting and pressing consumes a good hour!

Barb

[SoCalKilt]

I have a question that's related. I'm getting ready to make a kilt (my second, but first was more practice than really wearable) and am currently at a 42 waist. 44 Hip I have a goal to be at at least a 36 waist by mid August.

Is there a way to make the kilt now expecting to take it in? or should I just make two? One now, and one to celebrate my "goal" (although I have no idea what my hip would be at a 36" waist..)

-mike

[CooperTX]

Thanks for all the help guys! I think I will just go ahead and buy a new one at this point, as the cost of alterations would be more than what I paid new! I also appreciate the 'grats on the weight loss.

For those who are serious about weight loss, my wife and I are doing Weight Watchers and it does work as long as you stick to it. The first week or two are the tough ones. After that a routine kicks in and it becomes much easier. She has lost 77lbs and is still going!!!

[way2fractious]

Is there a way to make the kilt now expecting to take it in? or should I just make two? ... I have no idea what my hip would be at a 36" waist..

-mike

Yes, you can make a kilt now expecting to take it in later.

The problem with downsizing a kilt already made is that the excess material behind the sewn pleats is literally cut out with scissors, so you cannot later undo a couple pleats and remake the material into aprons. The material is gone. So the only alternative, as discussed above, is to cut off the existing aprons, rework them, and figure out how to join them back onto the remaining pleats.

However, if you make a kilt with this future downsizing in mind, just leave the first few pleats and the last few pleats uncut. When you take those pleats apart later, the material will still be there to make into aprons, and the job is not overwhelming. BTW, hip size will probably NOT decrease to the same extent as waist size. The difference can probably be addressed with slightly different apron hip measurements.

Good luck with both the kiltmaking and the weight loss.

[Pleater]

I have a question that's related. I'm getting ready to make a kilt (my second, but first was more practice than really wearable) and am currently at a 42 waist. 44 Hip I have a goal to be at at least a 36 waist by mid August.
Is there a way to make the kilt now expecting to take it in? or should I just make two? One now, and one to celebrate my "goal" (although I have no idea what my hip would be at a 36" waist..)-mike

I have been making kilts as something I can alter to accomodate my reducing weight.

Although I have made kilts which are traditional in their pleating I have left out the more permanent fixing of the pleats.

On some I have sewn the edges of the pleats, in others just pressed them, then sewn down the 2 inches of the waist band of each pleat, using a sewing machine and a stitch which is deliberately slightly un balanced - that means that when I want to remove the stitches it is easy to pull one thread and slide it out of the loops of the other thread. On some the large pleats at the edge of the apron are a little skimped, to be extended later.

I have put on belt loops but wear the kilts with the aprons secured by safety pins rather than straps and buckles.

It is a fairly easy matter to remove the hand sewn binding from the top of the pleats and narrow the gaps, then re press and reattach the binding. The binding is either in three parts with joins at the edges of the apron, or the aprons are self bound - that is they are longer than the pleated part, folded over and reinforced with petersham or ribbon or whatever came to hand. That is rather a good idea as it means there is no possibility of a mismatch in the pattern.

I leave the reinforcing a little long and pin through that and so far there are no obvious signs of damage.

The results are perhaps less tailored than the sewn down fell and cut and lined kilts, but picking a medium weight of fabric which will press, or be sewn along the creases seems to work.

The aprons can either be narrowed by remaking the loose edges - I just fold over and sew down, no fringes, or by making larger pleats so as to keep the aprons and pleats balanced. Once I get close to the size I want to be I can perhaps make things more permanent. Sewing by hand seems to make moving belt loops easy enough. I have loose ends on the inside of the kilts so I can unpick easily, which some might think untidy - but as no one is going to see them except me it is not a problem.