Kilt for the husband

[Colonel MacNeal]

Welcome and the best o' luck to you.

[sydnie7]

Welcome! I've not yet tried buttons or snaps on a self-made kilt, because of an experience with a purchased Union Kilt. Very nice piece of work, but with snaps at the waistband. At the time, Bob was right at 40 waist, but the Union Kilt 40 was just a tad too large -- took a belt to keep it up, and wrinkles from the belt tightening over the snapped waistband. Now that I've been cooking for him the better part of a year, I'm afraid the snaps might not hold :o) I think buttons are similar, unless you put in multiple buttonholes for adjustment.

Velco is your friend. Nice and forgiving of waistline fluctuations, within a certain range. And it all stays hidden behind the belt.

Straps and buckles have as much or more adjustment, if you look at the distance between holes on the strap. I've hand-sewn with leather straps/buckles and there is probably 4 inches of 'give' if you take both straps out to their loosest point.

[Alan H]

What syd said.

However, buttons WILL keep the kilt up. Think about it this way....he's going to be wearing a belt, right? So stress not.

18 inches from navel to knee, though...wow.

[Shanntarra]

I tried to make it 20 just in case, but he wanted it at his upper knee. And I checked the tape 3 times just make sure it was 18. It was.

I got a little furthur on it. I got all the pleats sharp stitched, and I've started actually pleating. It's looking good. If I fubar I still have enough fabric to do a second attempt. He has been bugging me that he would like to wear it when we go on vacation in a few weeks; so, keep your fingers crossed.

[Shanntarra]

Well I made a major miscalculation but I THINK it is fixable. I made the pleats to fit his waist not his rump.

So, can I just undo pleats? Or did one of our "large mammal" friends just get a new kilt?

Edit: Ok it turns out I just put in one to many pleats but the over apron was correct. YAY! Just little fixing on the extra fabric end we are good to go. The DH is already asking me "Is it done yet?"

The only problem is that his waist is bigger than his rump... by 2.5"! So do I keep the old pleats and just not taper. OR do I build it to his rump and try to extend the pleats to fit his waist. As of right now I'm going to head to bed.

[Shanntarra]

I think I found my answer here. http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/m...339/index.html in The Wizard of BC's post.

Now to just put it into place. It is suppose to hang straight from the waist but because of the "bay window" effect you have to take into account the extra window hanging over the hips.

I'm thinking that instead of leaning against a wall could I use a verticle level or a yard stick to make sure he is straight from belly to floor, THEN measure?

[Rex_Tremende]

What is it you're trying to measure now? The length?

[Shanntarra]

The problem is that his waist is 48.5", but his rump is 46". According to another DIY's posting you have to take into the account of the belly hang over. I need to re-measure his rump to take in account for the belly hang.

[sydnie7]

You may have seen my post in another thread about measuring across the back of his waist and the back of his hips (from side seam to side seam of p@nts) to see how much pleat taper you really need. When I'm making a kilt mail-order for someone whom I've never seen, it is the way I have found to get a sense of their proportions.

[The Wizard of BC]

Shanntarra,

If you have Skype on your 'puter give me a call.
Perhaps I can talk you through some of your problems.