Confessions........

[Alan H]

When I ordered my X-Marks tartan from Freedom Kilts, long ago, I PM'd Steve and said "I can't wait to make my first kilt!"

...and he wrote back right away and said "No you don't! You practice first!"
so I went on ebay and bought some inexpensive tartan wool and went to it, with Barbs book in hand. That first handsewn took me 47 hours to make. Thats' a LOT of hours, and it's by no means perfect though I still wear it. All things considered, it came out remarkably well.

I then went on to make two more tartan kilts, handsewn out of less expensive stuff, like material I got from Fraser and Kirkbright's remnants. I pleated one of them to sett and one to stripe. I'm wearing one of them right now.

at that point I figured I probably had this thing figured out, and I made the X-Marks kilt out of nice 13 ounce worsted and I must say that it looks pretty darned good.

Moral of the Story...don't be afraid to practice 2-3 times before diving into that $70 a yard stuff. If you're careful you will still produce wearable garments, though they won't be as nice as your Masterpiece!

[Barb T]

Is there a syndrome along the lines of, "FOP"? (Fear of Pleating)
m

Deep breaths! Relax!! The only part that you really absolutely have to do right at the outset is to rip the cloth to the right width. And that's just a matter of measuring a couple times (three to be sure), taking a deep breath (I still do this....), having an anxiety attack and checking the measurements again (I still do this), and either cutting or ripping the tartan. After that, who cares if you stitch a pleat wrong? Aside from a lot of cursing and gnashing of teeth, you can easily take out what you've stitched and try again.

Me, I love good tools and fine fabric. It would be worth it to me to work on a real piece of nice tartan the first time, just for the joy of working with nice tartan. Was my first kilt perfect? No, but I worked hard at it, and it was pretty damn good. But whether this approach appeals to you depends on what kind of a person you are. When I learned how to knit when I was a kid, I didn't want to make a practice scarf. Dull. So, my mom let me start with a sweater. Was it perfect? No, but it was a heck of a lot more fun to make than a scarf.

Anyway, back to your first kilt. I just wouldn't press _anything_ until it says to in the book. It's really hard to get a crease out of tartan, and, by the time you get to the pressing stage in the book, the kilt is essentially done except for the buckles and lining. At that point, you're either happy with what you have or you're willing to live with the warts.

[Rex_Tremende]

Yeah - I bought Barb's book to get over FOP - Fear of Purchasing.

After having made a few trial purchases of what I would consider starter kilts, I wouldn't order another until I better understood what a good kilt was.

Yep, for people who don't sew (much), The Art of Kiltmaking is the ultimate buyer's guide.

Regards,
Rex.

[Scratchy's Lass]

Ya know, it's not just the pleating properly aspect that has me nervous and spooked - it's the whole thing about tapering pleats and such when still keeping the sett and lines and all properly lined up, etc.

Sure, I'd think that a straight-up-and-down-formation-of-a-pleat that ends up with 'x' colored line properly verticle and 'y' colored line properly horizontal shouldn't be that hard if carefully done. BUT WHEN I GET TO THE 'TAPERING' ASPECT IN THE BOOK....

Maybe it's a mental concept hurdle, but 'it's gonna work out straight, but it will be tapered.....but it will come out looking straight.... but it's not gonna be the same size at the top, middle and bottom all at the same time....but it's gonna come out straight.... UhHUH.

[Kid Cossack]

Umm, it's kind of slow, but here's what I did.

First I sewed up a kilt with no taper. Then I went back and added the taper.

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

My first two kilts were sewn for my (then) 6 year old son. Therefore, essentially no taper. Then I made X-kilts-no pattern to worry about. Now I need to worry about taper and tartan pattern.

Still, I'm lucky enough to hang around with some incredibly talented men (e.g. Alan H and W2F), so I feel I've picked up a lot of kilt making by osmosis!

Be well,

[Alan H]

Still, I'm lucky enough to hang around with some incredibly talented men (e.g. Alan H and W2F), so I feel I've picked up a lot of kilt making by osmosis!

Be well,

Not to mention, good looking, too. :grin:

[Panache]

Not to mention, good looking, too. :grin:

Oh and don't forget modest Alan!

Cheers

Jamie

[parker_db]

I have to tell you Scratchy's Lass, that I have the same anxiety you stated. I just recived Barb's book, read through it several times, purchased some wool "plaid" from Hancock's and ripped it to size and then realzed that there was a funky line at the selvage that was not repeated on the other edge. So I have been practicing sewing my pleats with the taper in (on that piece of fabric) and that is what I have found the most difficult to do so far. But like Barb said, all you have to do if rip it out and sew it over; not a big deal.

I resisted the temptation to start working on real tartan first and if I had, would be well on my way to my first finished kilt. But I have enjoyed it immensely and will soon order some real tartan for a kilt to make.

I do hope you enjoy the making of your first kilt as much as I know I will. And believe me, your man will be more than please to wear it I'm sure.

Kilt On!!

[Mipi]

I'm also new in kilt making and don't have done much sewing in the past. Making kilt from Tartan is not something for beginner IMHO. But making kilt out of single colored fabric or camo is not such a big deal (with the help of X-kilt tutorial and advice from more experienced mambers).

So go with simple fabric first.

Best regrads!