A left handed question

[Big Mikey]

Contact a certain Mr. Ashton who has been known to craft some very fine garments whilst sewing left-handed.

[The Wizard of BC]

Star, The subject of left-handed kiltmaking came up between Barb and I at Kilt Kamp. For no other reason than Barb said in her book that it can't be done I decided to figure out how to do it.
I remember when I was young and still deciding which hand I was going to end up using my mother wanted me to be able to use either without trouble so she had me try to learn something right handed, then also learn it left handed but learn to do it while sitting in front of a mirror.
This is the way I figured out how to hand-sew a kilt left-handed. Imagine Barb sitting opposite you sewing right-handed. Now mirror her.
It worked for me.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

Yes, but wouldn't that make a mirror image kilt? Hence the problem with the pleats going the "wrong" way?

Be well,

[The Wizard of BC]

Well, actually your right. I used the idea but kept the pleats going the right way. What I figured out was to reverse the leg cross over to hold the kilt. I then grasp the pleat with my right hand and hold it tight while I stitch with my left. So instead of the pleat being near me and facing away I hold the already sewn pleats to that they are away from me and the new on facing my chest.

I also found I could use the outstretched fingers of my right hand under the pleat I was sewing to flatten the area where the stitches are going and keep them aligned.

The other thing I found out was that I am much better with a sewing machine than I am with a needle and thread. Barb makes it look so easy. And she is incredibly fast too. At the last Kilt Kamp I watched her sew and entire pleat in about 5 min. I can't do one in under an hour. And my stitches don't look half as good as hers.

[cacunn]

I believe that you have all missed the true hysterical reason the pleats go from left to right. It is the wind across the moors. The wind blows from the left no matter which direction you are walking. The first kilt makers found that when they pleated from right to left the wind would catch in the pleats. They had a terrible time digging those first kilt wears out of the bogs. They would get screwed into the peat up to fell line. A long as there was even a hint of right-to-left pleats showing around and around they would go.

It was not until someone started pleating from left to right did the Scots stop getting screwed.

[Garin]

Garin, Welcome!

Thanks very much! I've had a great time lurking in the DIY and other fora for a while now -- time to surface!

Indeed, the screwed Scots were one part of the initial inspiration for the pleat direction. However, one cannot forget the contribution of the tastiest of critters: the haggis! As we all know, these wee beasties are graced with two long legs on the one side, and two short legs on the other. Obviously this makes them perfectly suited for running along the hillsides -- but only in one direction! Therefore, the trick to catching them is to run around the hills in the other direction. Clever, eh?

Enter the kilt! Pleating in just the left-to-right direction allowed for maximal turning only in the counter-clockwise direction, and naturally created significant drag when attempting to turn opposite. This means that the haggis catcher is optimized for catching only half the population of haggis. This provides a natural protection for the noble haggis, that their populations may never be over-thinned by hunting. It's a clever sort of self-enforcing resource management.

Over time, of course, the populations slowly adapt to become entirely clockwise-runners, which are very difficult to catch. This is why most haggis are now commercially farmed, and we all buy our haggis at the butcher instead of catching them fresh.

[cacunn]

Garin welcome to another demented mind.