Steve and the XMTS Tartan Fabric

[Zardoz]

One question, Since I know little to nothing about making kilts (or sewing in general) I asked my kiltmaker about the hem, and they say a 1.5" to 2" hem will allow the pleats to hang nicer in the back, that a 1" (or less) hem can make the pleats tend to 'kick out' at the bottom. What would the size of this hem be?

[Barb T]

One question, Since I know little to nothing about making kilts (or sewing in general) I asked my kiltmaker about the hem, and they say a 1.5" to 2" hem will allow the pleats to hang nicer in the back, that a 1" (or less) hem can make the pleats tend to 'kick out' at the bottom. What would the size of this hem be?

I've put hems of all lengths into kilts, and the most important things are as follows:

1) Turn the hem up only once. Turning it up, and then turning the fringed edge over again _will_ make a ridge. Yes, the fringe will show on the inside, but no one should be looking at the inside of your kilt....

2) When you press the kilt, make sure that the iron spans the "bridge" between the double part of the hem and the single part of the rest of the kilt when you're pressing from the front side. If you run the iron on the front side of the kilt "along the ditch" just above the hem, you'll get a ridge. Pressing from the back side, though, you should press with the iron either on the part with the hem or the part without, but not across the two so that you can avoid a ridge.

3) Use a herringbone stitch instead of the standard blind hem stitch. This gives the hem a bit of flex and doesn't pull the outside back in ridge. Here's what it looks like:



Done right, no one will know that your kilt has a hem. If you can put a 1.5" hem in it, great. If you don't have enough length to do that, I wouldn't worry about putting in just 1". Heck, I even lengthened a kilt for a dancer once and had only 1/2" to put into the hem. It was fine.

And Steve, you are the bee's knees.

[Tartan Hiker]

Yes, the fringe will show on the inside, but no one should be looking at the inside of your kilt....

Well...that's no fun at all, Barb!!!

Seriously, as others have said I'll also be happy to offer shelter to yardage that is left unclaimed.

[fhpdo]

Steve ,
You can add me to the list of people that will happily take any unclaimed/unwanted tartan off your hands at full price.
Thanks,
John

[Cherub]

*Cherub Raises hand*

please add me to the queue for extra material, I may only be able to afford 5 yards or so with my EI running out and all but i will take it at the original price.

[TheKiltedCoder]

I finally got the e-mail from Steve, and I'll add my name to the list of the others who are declining the offered discount.

Steve, after all the work you've put into this.... Well, my heart goes out to you. I've had projects fall in the toilet before, as well. I expect I'd sleep no better tonight if the tartan had a kilting selvedge on it rather than the fringe. So, if I ever do make it north of the border, I'll be perfectly happy to buy you a nice bottle of your favorite single malt.

I did ask Steve to put the blind hem in on it, as my old 1950's model Singer doesn't really do blind hems all that well. In order to get that hem, though, I'm perfectly willing to wait until the very end of the list of recipients. I've got another kilt I'm trying to finish, and am not in any urgent need of the tartan at this point.

I'd also like to say I've been very heartened by the response of those others that have posted to this thread, and can only hope that the general response that Steve's received has been the same. But XMTS really is a community, and reminds me so much of what the Internet was like back in the early '90's.

Take care and God bless,

Brian