Questions about using canvas duck material

[switchblade5984]

Hello All-

I picked up some cotton canvas duck in Khaki color at WallyMart for real cheap.

Two questions:

Should I wash this mat'l before I start? It may have sizing in it but it's not quite as heavy as the Carhartt's that I wear @ work.

Should I add some to the seat measurement so it won't get tight/pull the pleats when I sit? This canvas doesn't give like a wool tartan mat'l.

Thanks for any feedback you can give.

Ray S.

YES YES Wash it maybe twice..... as you would wash the kilt (do not use soap) fabric conditioner will help

[Pleater]

Cotton is a whatsit for picking up stains and needing a good hot wash to get them out - and it also shrinks the first time it is washed.

I would wash the cloth in warm to hot water before starting to make the kilt, possibly several times if it has a lot of size. That will tell you if you are wasting your time with a fabric which is not going to look good as a kilt. Some cheap cottons are more size than fibre and the dye is not fixed, and it really is better to find this out before putting in a lot of effort.

I would sew along the outer edge of the pleat from waist to hem in order to keep the pleat neat, straight after making the hem.

For stiff cottons I do not sew the fell, I press the shape in and secure the waist, then sew from the hem upwards for about a foot on the inside fold of the pleat.

The lower part of the pleat is then fixed at the hip width plus ease measurement, the waist is suppressed but only by the shape pressed into the fabric.

I have found that using the traditional method of sewing down the fell by hand leads to constant pulls and breaking threads, which might be due to the fabric needing more ease, but it is - in my opinion better to leave off the fell sewing and allow the pleats to move freely as, after much turning and twisting in front of reflective surfaces, the effect is better, on me at least.

I secure the pleats with hand sewing to get them as accurately placed as possible, and also because I can hand sew using different methods and so secure more layers of fabric than my sewing machine can go through without putting so much pressure on the stack of pleats so they slide out of position.

Before starting out, do measure your fabric carefully, and be sure that when you start to divide it up you are working on the right edge - one of my first mistakes was to tear a 24inch strip off the wrong edge of the fabric. It was recoverable, that time, but it meant a lot more work.

When working on plain fabric I use coloured fabric markers, and pins of different designs so I can measure the pleat distance, the separation distance, mark the centres and generally get the folds onto the fabric so I can work on it before putting the pleats in one by one. If all goes well once the pleats are all folded for the first time the kilt is ready for the waistband and belt loops.

[Southern Breeze]

If you're using a sewing machine use heavy duty needles. I learned this the hard way.

[Alan H]

I sewed the fell on my canvas kilt, but not down low enough.

HINT: focus on the BUTT measurement. errrr. "hip" measurement, sorry.

I'm going to make my next canvas or general cotton twill kilt like this.

1.) I start with plenty of material. Cloth is cheap compared to time when it's only $ a yard.
2.) work out my "splits" as per Barbs formulas in her book. Round off the splits to the nearest inch, being generous, not skimpy,.
3.) Cut myself a 28-inch width of at least 6 yards. The selvedge will be the bottom
4.) serge the raw cut edge, and fold it over 3 inches. Iron that baby down hard
5.) Allow 2.5 feet for the under-apron, and start pleating.

6.) Make pleats with a 1-inch reveal, and at least 4 inches of cloth inside each pleat. With my splits I'm going to have about 24 pleats. Or I (read: you) could go for a 1.5 inch reveal and have 16 pleats with at least 4 inches of cloth inside each pleat.. For a canvas kilt, that makes better sense than 24 pleats.

7.) pleat and stitch the bottom of the fell. By that I mean go one pleat at a time all the way around the kilt but ONLY machine-stitch the bottom one inch of the fell. Just tack that baby down, this is a canvas kilt, don't bother with hidden stitches by hand. work in an even taper on each pleat by eyeballing it, you only want about .20 of an inch, and straight-pin each of them in place. One pin goes into each pleat at the waistband, one goes halfway down the fell.

8.) Make a BIG reverse pleat...at least 4 inches tucked under at each side, so this is going to eat up material, 16 inches of it. PIN this one, bigtime down the bottom of the fells again. don't stitch it yet.

Now haul the thing off the table, drop your trousers, and wrap the thing around you. Is it gonna fit around her hiney? If so, cool. If not, then unpin the reverse pleat and add one more pleat, or rip out one pleat until it fits. One pleat one way of the other isn't gonna kill a kilt, and each pleat will buy you 1 to 1.5 inches of room one way or another.

9). When you've decided it fits, then stitch in the reverse pleat.

10.) you worked in tapers by hand for each pleat and pinned 'em in. Now I'd go back and work those things, one or two at a time to be drop-dead straight, pin 'em some more and then stitch them down on the machine. When you're done with that you've got your pleats, and they're tapered.

If your hip measurement isn't 4-6 inches larger than your waist measurement, this isn't gonna work, and you'll have to make adjustment, of course.

I'll leave the A-shaping, pressing and apron construction to others, but I think this is how I'm going to do the pleats on my next cotton kilt. It'll be an experiment.