Quality from Chattancat

**turpin** · 30th March 08, 06:02 PM

I took delivery on my 8-yard, 16-oz tank in the X-Marks tartan from Chattancat. Folks, this guy is going to give our established forum kiltmakers a run for their money.

Let me rephrase that: The waiting lists won't be so long for our established kiltmakers once the word really gets out about Wally.

I have had 4 meters of the tartan sitting in my room since it was delivered last June, trying to decide which way to go with it. On the strength of some of ourt early-adopters here, I contacted Wally and we worked out the details of our arrangement, I got the tartan to him along with my measurements, and tried to relax. After a not too unreasonable length of time, this is the result, notwithstanding my pedestrian photographic skills.

If you're new, and not familiar with the tartan, just look at the site wallpaper. This is from the undamaged run #3 from Frazier and Kirkbright in Vancouver. The merino wool has a very different feel from the worsted I am used to wearing from the Scottish mills. Softer, not quite as scratchy. I hope that doesn't correlate to reduced durability of the pleat creases.

Wally's excellent pleat work. Sorry for the inverted bit of pleat at the bottom. That's my work, not Wally's. The hang is straight and cylindrical, without any waving or unevenness. The pleat is to the yellow stripe, as below.

Good luck finding any of the stitching visible - I can't. I think there are 31 or 32 pleats in this kilt, depending on how you count pleats. The slight off-set appearance in the pic is an artifact of my photography. It doesn't exist in the kilt itself.

Mandatory foot-on-something-to-show-the-drape-of-the-pleats shot.

Mandatory foot-on-something-to-show-the-drape-of-the-pleats shot from the other side.

I highly recommend Wally as a kiltmaker who cares deeply about his craft and works closely with the client to make sure everything is as it should be. This kilt fits beautifully and I am very happy with it.