Kilt making?

[The Wizard of BC]

I am going to have to disagree with some of the posts in this thread. I'm sorry.

A Kilt is the second only to a mans tailored suit jacket in complexity. It is NOT a piece of fabric with pleats sewn into a waistband.

Oh sure, you can make such a thing but it is this thinking that makes people believe that someday kilts will be mass produced and cost the same as a pair of jeans.

In a Traditional Style Kilt the pleats are arranged with great precision to best show off the Tartan. There are so many variables that this is a true art form.

Then the stitching is done in such a way to allow the fabric to hang, and move when walking, like no other garment in the world.

Yes, the fabric is cut away on the inside to thin the back and prevent "Pillow Butt", and yes there is a liner that covers that area, but thinking that the liner is there to keep the kilt clean or act as a sweat guard is false thinking. The liner is there to cover the re-enforcements built into the kilt to allow the fabric to float over the wearer without pulling, or puckering and allow the pleats to swish and flow without curling.

I have tried to find a simple way to explain this but basically you strap on the interfacing and re-enforcements and the outer fabric floats over those.

If you want to learn how to make a Traditional Kilt there is no better resource than "The Art of Kiltmaking". The cost of a book is nothing when compared to the cost of good quality kilt fabric and the pride of owning a truly well made kilt.

The difference in look, and swish, and feel of a Traditional kilt is evident from across the street when compared to "a length of fabric sewn into a waistband".

Does a well made Traditional Kilt have to cost $1000.00? No. The majority of that cost is in the fabric which can be $60.00 to $100.00 per meter. Any good quality fabric can be used to make a kilt.
It is the inner construction that is the secret.

I too, once thought that I could just sew some pleats into some fabric and call it a kilt. I was mistaken. I've been in this business for five years now and am still learning, still amazed at the complexity of this garment we call The Kilt.

[AlexMDN]

I am going to have to disagree with some of the posts in this thread. I'm sorry.

A Kilt is the second only to a mans tailored suit jacket in complexity. It is NOT a piece of fabric with pleats sewn into a waistband.

Oh sure, you can make such a thing but it is this thinking that makes people believe that someday kilts will be mass produced and cost the same as a pair of jeans.

I agree with you about about jackets and kilts in comparison - they are most complicated to tailor, but mass production of kilts, unfortunately it's already began. Look at ebay listings pakistani kilts from 30 to 80$ that the price of pair of jeans. It's sad indeed, but it's a fact.

Anyways, I'm at sort of career spin point, but have to wait for some time(up to 4 years actually, thanks to my parents divorce and my father's military service I spend to much time abroad or at least CF thinks so), so I decided to go for the kilt making some time ago. My grandma knew the secret, but it's to late for me to ask. So I just reconstructed it from what I have left.
And actually it wasn't that hard, you know. First one I didn't like, but the second I've done in about 30hrs, and the third in 12hrs and this one I really like. Honestly, this one inspired friend of mine who happened to argue with me about whole thing, to order one in BC tartan.
Eventually guy doesn't know how real kilt suppose to look like and I may have a bad taste, but still ...

[The Wizard of BC]

I am going to say this again here, and then I'm going to say it again and again till the rabble is tired of hearing it.

The secret to a kilt, and I mean any true kilt has nothing to do with the pleats, or the stitching or the fabric. It is all in the method used to take the stress of a body moving inside a garment.

In almost any piece of clothing today all the stress is taken by the stitching. As mass production looked for ways to keep costs down the first thing they did was leave out the interfacings. It is thought that if it's not seen, it won't be missed.

If you take out the cases where the fabric of a garment is worn through or torn you will see that it will usually be the fabric right next to the stitch line to give way. This points to the stitch line as the weak point of a garment.

The interfacings and reinforcements take up those stresses and keep them away from the stitching. THIS IS THE SECRET TO THE MAKING OF A KILT.

In a Traditional Style Kilt there is a horse hair canvas strip sewn inside that stretches from the straps on one side to the buckles on the other side. This canvas is what you actually wear. The outer fabric can then just float on the outside with out the stess being on the stitch lines of the Fell.

In a Contemporary Style Kilt we use a waistband (with interfacing inside it) to take the stress of strapping the kilt on.

These are just two ways of keeping the stress of a moving body away from the stitch lines. By doing this the sewn down Fell area remains intact. The pleats are free to move and swish. And the aprons do not develop puckers.

When reading Barb's book, everything up to the chapter on the hair canvas is just preparation to get to that point. My advice to anyone wishing to make a kilt is to skip the entire front of the book and read the interfacing chapter first. Once you understand why the interfacing is there and how to put it in then go back to the begining and start to make the kilt.

Every person who wishes to call themselves a kiltmaker needs to understand just what is hidden behind that liner of a kilt.

OK, I'm going to step off my soapbox now. The next installment of this tirade will be "Steeking, what's the big secret."

[Barb T]

And just to put into perspective how long it takes to make a trad kilt properly.....

I've been making kilts for 12 years, and Elsie, my co-author, has been making kilts for over 50 years after apprenticing for 5 years in Scotland. Both of us figure if you're making a trad kilt in less than about 18 hours (that's solid work), you're skimping or short-cutting. It's just not physically possible to do all the necessary handwork and construction in less than that amount of time.

[cacunn]

There is a BIG problem on this forum. We have too many skilled craft persons. These highly skilled craft persons take a complicated process, taking multiple yards of cloth and turning it into a work of art and make it look simple. But isn't this the definition of a craft person?

It is like a fine race car even when admired up close you don't know or really understand all the time, effort and parts that go into it. The same is true for kilt there is a lot of effort that goes into one that most of us don't understand.

What is great is that these skill craft persons are so willing to help others learn and forgive our mistakes before we make them.

If you want to make your own - first order Barb's book, second while waiting read every thing on the web about kilt making. Don't believe every thing, but, read it for different points of view and to help ease the jonesing while waiting for Barb's book. Third take out a third mortgage on your house. As said above the kilt is only the beginning of the addiction.