X-Kilt: Sew Your Own, manual available for download

**Alan H** · 20th September 06, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by munnin

How much experience do you think is needed to approach this project? I am thinking of tackling it. I need to find a way to incorporate both black and gold cloth.

p.s. how diffacult would it be to adapt this to a tartan?

You need to know how to use a sewing machine. That's it. Honest, that's IT. The whole point of the X-Kilt was to make a garment that ANYBODY could sew up. If you can measure and mark a piece of plywood in your garage and cut it out to make something, then you can make an X-Kilt. The only difference is that you're using a piece of chalk on cloth, instead of a pencil on plywood. Oh, and you're cutting with scizzors instead of a power saw, and assembling with thread/sewing machine instead of hammer and nails. There's no pattern to buy, you draw out your pattern directly on the cloth, with chalk.

I've thought about adapting it to two colors of cloth, so that the outside of each box pleat is one color and the under-pleat section is another color. It it certainly could be done but it'd be a lot of work measuring the cloth, allowing for seams, and joining all those pieces of cloth together. It wouldn't be HARD, it'd just be time consuming. What might be easier is to make the kilt out of black cloth, but use gold thread, which would be a nice contrast. Your stitching needs to be really good, though! Then make the bits and bots...belt loops, waistband, cargo pockets if you want 'em and so-on, out of gold cloth. That'd be a right lot less work than doing every single under-pleat section out of a contrasting color, though I'm not sure how it would look.

I gotta admit, having the bulk of the kilt in black and the under-pleat sections in gold would look really cool. It'd just be a load of work.

As for making a tartan kilt like this, I STRONGLY would NOT recommend it. There's nothing in the instructions about matching up the tartan pattern. Stick to solid colors or random patterns like camoflage in bull denim, canvas and cotton or cotton/poly twill.

The X-Kilt was intended to be an easy-to-sew kilt that anyone could do on a home machine in 10-14 hours. I think they look good, but if you make just one or two you won't learn the tricks and tips needed to really custom-fit a kilt. However, you will make a perfectly reasonable and wearable garment if you have an "average" body-type, and you will understand what a professional kiltmaker does, and why their products are worth every penny they charge for them.

**Alan H** · 21st September 06, 05:28 PM

Well, I'm done with #4, for KCW (we traded kilt for digital camera). KCW and I are almost exatly the same size so I just strapped on his kilt in front of the full-length mirror.

This is the super-revised final model with the full waistband, deeper front-facing pleats and deeper under-apron pleat.

DANG. This is SWEET. Jeeminy Christmas. Now *I* want one. You gotta wear it tugged up to navel level, though I made a little adjustment to the length of the apron so it wouldn't drag far below the level of the rest of the kilt if you don't.

DANG-o-matic.

OK, KCW, I hate to put pockets on this thing, but that's up next while I have the house to myself tonight!

Oh, and confirmed: PiperGeorge is wearing his (protoype #3) day-to-day for general veterinarian work. Tartan Hiker has made four, Mowgli has made one, O'Neille has made one. Anybody else? The population is growing! Share pics!

**Panache** · 21st September 06, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by Alan H

... Anybody else? The population is growing! ...

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The F-H.C.A.G. has promised to make me an X Kilt before she sets to work on Sinbad's X-Marks tartan Kilt.

Sadly, Prudence says you shouldn't pressure redheads though

Cheers