Wool Kilts for Someone on a budget

[RadioKen]

Not sure my skills are there yet.

Alan beat me to that comment! I'm in a similar financial boat and my wife has informed me that the quickest way for me to get a nice wool kilt is for me to make it myself. Don't worry about your skills (or lack thereof). Get some inexpensive material and the X-kilt pattern and start practicing. The skills will come soon enough and you'll have a few nice casual kilts to boot!

~Ken

[Alan H]

Not sure my skills are there yet.

Some guys gotta buy kilts. Some guys don't WANT to make a kilt. That's cool.

Some guys don't think they can make a kilt. Now, if you're missing a hand, or if you're blind, or if you're so ADD that you can't concentrate on anything for more than ninety seconds, then yeah, you probably can't make a kilt. Also, it must be said that making a full-on traditional kilt your first time out of the blocks is kind of a daunting proposition. I mean, it's at least 40-50 hours of work.

However, if you start with an X-Kilt, and then make another X-Kilt, and then make a machine-sewn box pleat kilt...

...and then buy Barbs book and read it, and then make a mostly hand-sewn kilt following the instructions on some inexpensive tartan off of ebay or from Fraser and Kirkbrights remnants...and THEN go buy the killer-diller 16 ounce dream tartan, the odds are pretty good that you'll turn an entirely acceptable product...AND you will have learned a lot AND you will truly appreciate why a professional-quality kilt costs as much as it does.

If that process, which will take about 2 - 4 months for a regular working stiff with a day job, is too much to contemplate, well then....


read the post about saving your pennies.

[Downix]

Alan beat me to that comment! I'm in a similar financial boat and my wife has informed me that the quickest way for me to get a nice wool kilt is for me to make it myself. Don't worry about your skills (or lack thereof). Get some inexpensive material and the X-kilt pattern and start practicing. The skills will come soon enough and you'll have a few nice casual kilts to boot!

~Ken

That's what I am doing, then again, my ultimate goal is to be able to make them for other people so I have co-workers buying up fabric for me to work with while sitting at my cube at work.

[Buckskin]

Go on e-Bay and take a look at what bobilishious has. 8yd wool kilts pleated to sett or strip for $180.00 to $250.00 depending on the tartan. Several members have bought from him.
I have a couple of things coming from him and can say that he really tries to please and will work with you if you have a special request.

[bricelythgoe]

Some guys gotta buy kilts. Some guys don't WANT to make a kilt. That's cool.

Some guys don't think they can make a kilt. Now, if you're missing a hand, or if you're blind, or if you're so ADD that you can't concentrate on anything for more than ninety seconds, then yeah, you probably can't make a kilt. Also, it must be said that making a full-on traditional kilt your first time out of the blocks is kind of a daunting proposition. I mean, it's at least 40-50 hours of work.

However, if you start with an X-Kilt, and then make another X-Kilt, and then make a machine-sewn box pleat kilt...

...and then buy Barbs book and read it, and then make a mostly hand-sewn kilt following the instructions on some inexpensive tartan off of ebay or from Fraser and Kirkbrights remnants...and THEN go buy the killer-diller 16 ounce dream tartan, the odds are pretty good that you'll turn an entirely acceptable product...AND you will have learned a lot AND you will truly appreciate why a professional-quality kilt costs as much as it does.

If that process, which will take about 2 - 4 months for a regular working stiff with a day job, is too much to contemplate, well then....


read the post about saving your pennies.

I appreciate the advice. Unfortunately I am the regular working stiff with a day job and a night job. Plus I have no sewing machine to work with. I have thought about sewing my own, but don't want to make a khaki colored kilt (just not my style). And if you read the post about saving your pennies, then you would realize I already have. No matter how much I save, I can not justify a 600 dollar item. Perhaps I will be able to sew one, when I don't have so much on my plate and I have a room to do it in.

[robthehiker]

I should have put this in here is the review and photos of my Burnett's and Struth kilt

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/k...421/index.html

I have one of their 16oz wool "casual" kilts and am quite pleased with it.

[fluter]

Perhaps I will be able to sew one, when I don't have so much on my plate and I have a room to do it in.

The sewing machine is optional, especially if you don't want an X-kilt or similar contemporary/casual garment. You'll probably want your good trad kilts to be hand-sewn, unless it's done by a true expert.

I'm working on my third hand-sewn kilt, and my feeling is that someone with decent bachelor sewing skills and plenty of stubbornness can do it. It is unlike almost any other tailoring, so don't be put off; but it's good to have an advisor who knows how to sew.

[ForresterModern]

Tartanweb (see above sponsors logo) are having a decent little sale right now--10% off everything. They carry Lochcarron Strome (51 different tartans) and Marton Mills Jura range (80 tartans) in their Standard 8yd 16oz groups and you can get a well made machine sewn custom built tartan of your choice (from within those two ranges) for about $300 shipped to your US door (hopefully avoiding customs hits). I have two of their machine sewn kilts (from thier sister site Scottishkilts.net) in 13 and 16 oz tartans and each fits great, is well made and eqivalent or better than my other tanks from other vendors on both sides of the ocean costing similar or more money. Granted, these are machine sewn and not the hand sewn versions we all lust for, but many like myself believe that a machine sewn kilt can be just as nice functionally and in general as a more expensive handsewn and often at about half the price. It is at least a good place to start getting you a quality heavyweight wool kilt at a good price. You can then lust like the rest of us for the ultimate handsewn to come within your financial grasp (my first is on queue right now---hopefully more to come).

Tartanweb has a good reputation for their workmanship, although communications can sometimes be challenging. Overall satisfactory reports, though.

[RadioKen]

My own box pleated kilts are a bit higher than your stated price range, though you might want to consider that I only require 50% up front, and the balance is not due until the kilt is ready to be made, which with my current queue would be some months down the road.

Also, I have some on my specials page right now for $300. These would be made-to-measure, just like my standard kilts, they are just from tartan I happen to have excess of on hand.

I'd like to redirect your attention to this previous post. It fits in perfectly with your budget and you could do a LOT worse (and possibly not much better) than owning one of Matt's traditional box-pleated kilts.

~Ken

[ForresterModern]

Scotweb is also having a sale right now, which may or may not be better pricing than the discount you would recieve by entering their store by clicking on their advert top right of this page. If you look under "Men's wear, then kilts, then 8yd traditional kilts, then Kilt Top Value 8yd" you can get a kilt made to the same construction standards as the standard Balmoral they make in a limited number of available tartans from lesser known and thereby less expensive mills. The start out at around $226 and go up depending on what particular tartan you choose, but most of my searching put them in at under $300, including shipping. Scotweb is a great company with generally excellent communication. This option would allow you a significant variability in choice of tartan with a good quality build from a reputable company that is a strong supporter of this forum, and get the benefit of the discount too. My experience with tartans from some of these mills is that there is little noticeable difference in the fabric quality compared to some of the finest fabric weavers in the business.