altering a kilt: making the waist up to 10" smaller?

[jhockin]

I'm wondering if any of our experienced kiltmakers could offer some advice, on what to do, to allow for possible future alterations to a kilt ( that I am now making)?
I'd like some ideas that would allow for (possible/hopeful? - if I can lose enough 'flab' ) future alterations, to make the waist ( and I assume the "hips"/butt would also "shrink", some too) up to 10" smaller?
Should I leave the last couple (or so) of pleats ( both sides, or just one side?), UNCUT, in the fell?

[piperdbh]

I can't help you on the how-to, but would it be possible to go ahead and make the kilt for the size you are now, and and then make another one when you get to the size you're aiming for?

[Arlen]

I am having my mother in law alter one a great deal since I am a lot smaller around the middle than I used to be.

Since the extra fabric has not been cut out of the pleats, she is going to undo a couple of the front pleats and iron the fabric flat. Once that is done she will cut off the excess and remake the two aprons for me.

Then she just has to take an inch or so off the bottom!

[Tobus]

Then she just has to take an inch or so off the bottom!

Did you get shorter too?

[Barb T]

Let me start with a comment that is not strictly pertinent to your situation, in case other readers are confused. For any kilt made by traditional methods, the pleats _are_ cut out in the fell, and you can't just undo the apron and underapron, take out a few pleats, and remake the apron and underapron out of the tartan that used to be in the pleats. You'd have to take out the pleats, cut out the "cut out" part, and join the apron and underapron back onto the pleats. This would actually be more work than making a kilt from scratch, and any good kiltmaker would charge you an arm and a leg to do it.

My advice to most people under these circumstances is to sell the kilt and use what you got from selling it to buy a new kilt that fits properly.

OK - now specifically to your question. You are making the kilt yourself. Should you not cut out the first couple pleats on each side? Sure, you can do that. But, if you sold the kilt, you could likely get more for the kilt than it would cost you to buy new tartan, and it would take a lot less time to just make yourself a new kilt. And the other drawback is that you're likely to change proportions as well, so the waist-hip differential is likely to change if you lose that much weight. So, my advice would be to make the kilt now, wear it, sell it when you lose weight, and use the proceeds to buy a new length of tartan.

[jhockin]

OK: thanks for the advice! If it's going to be more work to alter a kilt, that much, than make a new one, I"ll just forget about altering possiblities for that much "shrinkage".

[Arlen]

Did you get shorter too?

No, I've always been short (5'4") and the Kilt I bought was a little long. My MIL assures me that the altering she is doing is not all that much work so it was well worth the price.

[Pleater]

If you are making a kilt with all the sewn down taper, the internal layering and so on of a tailored kilt, then the amount of work to reduce the size is probably going to be more than it is worth.

I make kilts where the pleats are just pressed in, the only structural sewing is at the waistband, and all my kilts were reduced by 10 or 12 inches over the time I was losing weight - though I need to start thinking about the next 10 inches now.

I make reverse Kingussie style kilts as I find they do not fly as easily as other styles, so the non sewing of the fell is not quite so dangerous - and I wear kilts as a top layer over tunics or liners, anyway.

When I needed to take a few inches off the waist size I just undid the stitching, retained the position of the outer folds of the pleats in most cases and simply made the reveal of the pleat smaller.

In a few cases, where I had pleated to a stripe, although I had put the stripe off centre - it didn't look all that obvious - perhaps the shadow of the fold affected perception - after a few narrowings I had to press the fabric out entirely and recalculate the positions - so it was remaking the kilt from scratch just about.

I found that my waist moved around a bit during weight loss - this might not happen on the male anatomy, but I found that there was a diference of an inch or so after a while.

I took the extra length off the top edge, as it was easiest.

So - if you have the time an inclination to entirely remake a kilt, then it is possible, so is making a kilt that is easy to dissassemble and remake, it is up to you really - there appears to be a market for second hand kilts, and if you can make them yourself then you are in a win win situation, you have the pleasure of wearing a kilt until you shrink out of it, then you sell it and get money for your effort and then you can buy fabric and make a new kilt.

As long as you keep making more kilts to cover the hiatus between the selling of the old kilt and putting on the new there should be no problem that I can see.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: