Wool Kilts for Someone on a budget

[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.

[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.

[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.