My Army Tartan is here!!

[TheKiltedCoder]

For those that haven't seen on other threads, I'd recently purchased a copy of The Art of Kiltmaking and really have been itching to try it out. So, I bit the bullet and ordered 4 yards of doublewide US Army 16 oz tartan from TartanWeb. The first time in my life I've ever ordered anything from outside the continental US.

Well, I got notification on 1 September that it had shipped. I figured it would be a couple of weeks as it paddled a little rowboat all the way from Scotland. Well, it seems that Jerry let them borrow his swallows, as it arrived today (they'd actually tried to deliver yesterday, but they wanted a signature and nobody was home).

Well, I unwrapped it immediately, and it's absolutely beautiful. I've got most of the other odds and ends required per Barb's advice, except for the lining, hair canvas, and thread (I'd been waiting for the tartan to show up so I could take a small swath into Joann's to match colors).

So, I'm going to do this "by-the-book", as it were. I'll post pictures as part of the ongoing process. Note that my time is not always my own, so it is most likely to be a drawn out process. Unless everyone wants ongoing progress updates, I may just take pictures as I go, and then post one final update with the pictures once I finish.

As one of my personality flaws, I'm very much a child of the 21st century. I want it, and I want it now. So, it will be a good exercise in self control for me to finish this by hand.

Brian

[Livingston]

<snip>

As one of my personality flaws, I'm very much a child of the 21st century. I want it, and I want it now. So, it will be a good exercise in self control for me to finish this by hand.

Brian

Is it done yet, Brian?





Looking forward to seeing the results when you finish. Good luck.

[kiltedinUSMC]

We here at Xmarks like progress pics. Good luck with your project.

[TheKiltedCoder]

Is it done yet, Brian?





Looking forward to seeing the results when you finish. Good luck.

No. And that's the problem!!

I was always the kid whose model airplanes looked horrid because I wanted to just slap them together and play with them NOW. So, they had model glue fingerprints all over the canopies, and the wings weren't snugged up into the fuselages correctly.

So, I'm really going to have to CONSTANTLY remind myself that rushing through this is only going to give me a crappy looking kilt and waste a good chunk of change.

Now, I have to send off for the hair canvas, as that appears to be something that Joanne's doesn't carry. I've also got some of the Joanne's tailors chalk (as opposed to the washout pencils), but, from the dire warnings in Barb's book, I'm half scared to try it. I may just bite the bullet and order some chalk Barb knows will work.

Brian

[fluter]

Now, I have to send off for the hair canvas, as that appears to be something that Joanne's doesn't carry.

See Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. They should be able to cover you on the Tailor's Pride hair canvas.

The "good" chalk is well worth getting. The stuff from Joann's does not seem to mark as easily, and I'm afraid there's some wax in it. Vogue has some other that looks more like the right stuff...

[Carolina Kiltman]

As one of my personality flaws, I'm very much a child of the 21st century. I want it, and I want it now. So, it will be a good exercise in self control for me to finish this by hand. Brian

Keep repeating; "Patience is one of the Cardinal Virtues, and is good for the soul"

[turpin]

Invest in a high quality seam ripper, and don't be too impatient to use it. I have a kilt in the making (not by me) and the maker says he sewed 40 pleats to get 23. He's a perfectionist, I guess.

Good luck.

[Panache]

Invest in a high quality seam ripper, and don't be too impatient to use it. I have a kilt in the making (not by me) and the maker says he sewed 40 pleats to get 23. He's a perfectionist, I guess.

Good luck.

Good advice (but try not to rip out any of your hair because you have to rip out a seam)

From Alan H. way2fractious, and my beloved wife I have learned that good quality wool tartan is forgiving if you need to remove your stiching and start again (as long as you are careful).

It sounds like you are cultivating the right attitude to make this first kilt of your a champion effort!

Cheers

Jamie

[TheKiltedCoder]

See Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. They should be able to cover you on the Tailor's Pride hair canvas.

The "good" chalk is well worth getting. The stuff from Joann's does not seem to mark as easily, and I'm afraid there's some wax in it. Vogue has some other that looks more like the right stuff...

I took a look at their website, and, though I'm local (for sufficiently large values of 'local'), we're going to be busy enough that getting to Evanston for the next couple of weeks will most likely be problematic. I think I'll just have to bite the bullet and pay both the shipping and sales tax to get Vogue to ship it to me cross-city.

The GoldStar chalk says that it's not oil or wax based, so we'll see how it works out.

Thanks for the pointer!!

Brian

[English Bloke]

Could you post your pics as you go along. It would be nice to follow the unfolding story. Would love to make a kilt myself but I can just about manage a half inch blanket stitch... Perhaps your efforts will inspire me.