Measurement questions

[SoCalKilt]

ok, after a first practice kilt, I have material to make another. I wore the first one, but after seeing others here realize just how much of a disaster it was.

My current measurements are 44" waist 48" hips and length will be 22". I just bought 6 yards of material (an end run) that is 60" wide, but does not have a selvage edge. If I pleat to the stripe I'll have a 6.5" pleat with 1" showing.

My questions are, how many pleats will I need 24 or 27, how much do I need for each apron and what will the total length be?

I'm trying to determine if I need to use both sides, or if I can get two out of the 6 yds. (not a big deal if I can't though).

Finally, this material is a wool blend that has a slight fuzzy feel on one side, but the other side shows the tartan design better. Which side is the "right" side?

-mike

[Barb T]

Is the tartan repeat about 6.5"? If so, then I think you're going to need more than 6 yards given the measurements for your kilt. You'll need a good 27" just for the part of the apron that shows, and that doesn't count the facings and deep pleat (which typically add another 15"). So, you'll need 42" or so each for the apron and underapron, which will leave you only about 130" for the pleats if you try to get away with only 6 yards. If the repeat is 6.5", you'd have 20 pleats. I think I'd use a full 8 yards. Even if you really skimp on the apron and underapron and try to use only a yard for each, you'd still only have 144" for the pleats, which isn't enough for more than 22 pleats. And the apron facings and deep pleat would have to be _really_ skimpy. I'd only try a 6-yard kilt if I were making it for someone with hips less than about 35".

If you lay out the tartan with the width going right to left, and you look across the width of the tartan, the "right" side will have the tartan twill line going diagonally to the left away from you.

You'll also need a hem.

Let me know if I can clarify any of this!

Barb

[SoCalKilt]

Here is a photo of the material I bought.



(couldn't get the tape clear)

I want to pleat to the stripe showing the brown with yellow stripe on each pleat.

I think you're right that I'll need both pieces though.

-mike

[Barb T]

Your tartan repeat is a bit more than 3 inches. If you use two repeats per pleat (i.e., put a pleat every other yellow stripe instead of every yellow stripe), you'll need more than 6 yards. I think the alternative of using only one repeat will give you pleats that are too shallow to look good.

Having said that, you do have a wrinkle that doesn't show up in most tartan. Your tartan is asymmetric, and, if you use both halves of the double width, you'll need to be careful about how you join fabric so that the twill line stays the same direction _and_ the tartan doesn't reverse at the back join (one half of the kilt with have to have the selvedge in the hem and one half will have the cut edge at the hem and the selvedge at the top in order to avoid reversing the tartan). It wouldn't be a huge deal if you reversed the tartan at the back join, though, because you're pleating to the stripe. But if you reverse the tartan at the join, what will show in the pleats will be different to the right and left of the center back. That might or might not matter to you.

Let me know if I haven't been clear!

Barb

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

God I love this board! The amount of information and knowledge, that is shared, is incredible. And the fact that I not only read, but comprehend threads like this is a miracle! 6 months ago I could not have told you diddly about pleats, the different ways of pleating, why depth was important, or what in the h&*# "asymmetric tartan" referred to! I woudl have guessed some kind of drug induced plaid that did not arrive all at the same time (a little IT reference!).

Barb, great response and I am amazed that you could tell it was asymmetric from the picture. I think that I see it as well, but would not have if you had not mentioned it.

[Barb T]

Once you get the hang of looking for asymmetry, it's easy to see. You just try to find a place in the tartan that looks the same "both ways" (i.e., if you went to the right, you'd cross the same stripes in the same order as if you went to the left). In your tartan, there isn't any place where you can do that. If you start at the yellow stripe in brown, for example, the stripes are green then tan to the right but tan then green to the left. You can try the same trick at any point in your tartan, and there isn't anywhere you can find a mirror image!

Barb

[UmAnOnion]

Once you get the hang of looking for asymmetry, it's easy to see. You just try to find a place in the tartan that looks the same "both ways" (i.e., if you went to the right, you'd cross the same stripes in the same order as if you went to the left). In your tartan, there isn't any place where you can do that. If you start at the yellow stripe in brown, for example, the stripes are green then tan to the right but tan then green to the left. You can try the same trick at any point in your tartan, and there isn't anywhere you can find a mirror image!

Barb