Travesty...

[MrMayhem]

Completed my first XKILT..FINALLY!!...but it turns out to be a 50+ yarder!!!
lines were all wrong, wasnt hemmed properly, waist band would make you sea sick just looking at it and the top apron more resembled a rhomboid than an A-frame...lol...and lucky for me it was solid color i was using!...lol...So, I have re-read Barb-T's book, sat down with my mom (who was a seamstress by trade) and we have taken it apart and I was criticized AND schooled as to what I did wrong and more imprtantly where...lol...As reconstruction begins I will photograph this one a lot. Plus I think after discussing with the parental unit, I think we are going to take a stab at the Rev-K style kilt. I have a question though, will 1 inch pleats be too small for my rather largeish frame? I was thinking a 2 inch reveal would be good for my 54 inch waistline, yeah I know, but hey at least its not 58 like it was before I started on the kilt wagon!!!! And best part is its shrinking little by little!!!!

[The Barry]

You might not feel like it, but making all of those mistakes was probably a good thing. If we did everything right the first time, why would we strive to get better.

Keep on it, you'll get there!

[Tatonka]

Way to go Mayhem! I am fighting the battle of the waist line too. I am only down 2 inches, but the important thing is that we are getting smaller. Congrats on the four inches and here is to more sooner rather than later!
And I am looking forward to the pictures of your XKilt progress

[Highlander31]

Don't worry about the mistakes we learn from them. When Thomas Edison was asked what it felt like to have 2000 failed attempts at the light bulb before finally getting it right. He stated he hadn't failed at all,...he simply learned 2000 ways not to make a light bulb.

Look forward to seeing the photos of the phoenix as it rises from the proverbial ashes.

[MrMayhem]

holy moly!!!
I've been at my moms most of the day today, and since showing up with the "thing" as she called it, lol, and un-doing all of it. We sat down at the table and started laying out pleats and measurements...and geez, all the pleats are sewn!!! I didn't even get a chance to take pictures of a before shot!!!! She said UNDO IT...and like a madman I undid all that sewing, lol. Now I'm at a halt, a bit of confusion on my part. I guess I'll post in the DIY'er forums but my question is: Do I need to cut the pleats on the inside? I've got 2 inch reveals and a 3inch under fold on each pleat. With a total of 24 pleats (12 each way). My question is how is the cut made? or is it even necessary? It's not "that" heavy as is, although I think for the weather down here it might be just too heavy. And I'd kinda like to lighten the load as it were.

Any how, thanks for the encouragements and kuddos!!!

[Pleater]

If you can live with the fabric remaining whole, then I'd say do that and then, when you need to make the kilt smaller you can do it by smoothing out the fabric and remaking the pleats.

I have worn the same kilts both winter and summer, and find that they seem to be equally comfortable in a wide range of temperatures, both when combined with Tilley hat, sandles and tee shirt or worn with thick hose, boots and several layers of wool.

You can even take out box pleats and remake the kilt as a RK.

I have kilts that have been remade three or four times, as I reduced my waist size by a total of 12 inches.

I started off with the 'normal' knife pleats and then did a Kingussie, and then a reverse Kingussie.

With a reverse Kingussie I find that making 10 pleats each side of the centre inverted pleat makes it easy to calculate the spacings. When reducing the size I usually keep the outer folds of the pleats - assuming that it is a plain fabric and simply sew them closer together onto a slightly shortened waistband. Sewing twenty pleats one tenth of an inch closer together means losing two inches off the waist, then the next narrowing can be moving an inch of each apron into the pleats beneath them, and so on.

Anne the Pleater

[meinfs]

First, congratulations on losing some inches, and then for taking on making the xkilt. Good thing to have live interactice help with the sewing!

As for your question of the look of 1 inch reveals on your body frame --- my humble opinion is that if the traditional knife pleats look better with less than an inch in reveal, there's no reason why a rev-K or box pleat, even if solid-color, shouldn't look as good, regardless of size. And those box-pleats have typically bigger pleats don't they, but they still look good. I think it is all very relative.

Good luck with the reconstruction and show us pics

[Kerr the Walker]

Only a travesty if you didn't learn from it. Definite kudos for giving it a go.

And congrats on the dwindling waist. Not an easy feat for certain.

[McFarkus]

If you're losing weight (congratulations by the way) you might want to follow the advice above which would allow you to remake the kilt as you lose. My waist is 6 inches less than it was when I started kilt wearing. I decided not to get a custom made kilt until I have a waist again, so I've been selling and trading my larger kilts as I acquire smaller kilts.

[MrMayhem]

Wow! thanks for the encouragements folks! Yeah its been a struggle with the table muscle, lol, but it took me 40+ years to attain this fine physical form, lol, that is if round can be considered fine, lol!

Anyways, the kilt started out as an xkilt, and as I have mentioned was really poorly done, which is why I seeked out the parental units advice and tutelage. Turns out she is a machine when it comes to sewing!!! She had me undo the kilt, which I was GLAD to do, lol, yeah that bad, lol. Once it was undone we re-layed out the kilt as an xkilt with 3 inch box pleats. At which time I showed her the Rev-K in denim that Meinfs had recently completed (awesome btw!!) so SHE undid the box pleats and then we redid it in the Rev-K style and it turns out to be looking really nice! But, this is where she and I differed, with a 1 inch reveal we had about 16 pleats, if I remember correctly to a side, and after test fitting it, it truly felt like I was wearing a tank!!! So we undid the test pleats changed it to a 2 inch reveal and that felt better and I think looks better, with only 12 pleats to a side, not as cluttered IMHO. Once I get back over there later today after work, I'll snap a few pics and get em posted hopefully sometime tonight. I think we/I might just leave the pleats uncut, so I can remake it as the table muscle recedes...

Again thanks for the encouragements and helpful insights!!!