Ladies' kilt-skirt/hostess skirt

[Mac Ghille Sheathanaich]

She wants it made the way I am going to make it for her. I am inclined to agree with you Matt and "vorpallemur", insofar as interior construction goes. I won't take tartan fabric to the sewing machine either. That just wouldn't be right!

I do have my ethics and principles........ Besides, I don't want to be responsible for the "turning over in the grave" of heroic Shaws of the bygone days of yore.

The Black Watch Monument has atop it the statue of a Shaw who was in the Regiment. I forget his first name. I was told this by an old Scotsman here who has been there and saw it up close.

It is located in Aberfeldy, Perthshire and was erected in 1887, to commemorate the first muster of the Regiment in that town in 1740. There were a lot of Shaws in the Regiment down through the centuries.

So you see, I have reasons to treat this fabric with reverence and respect. Not to insult it by taking it to the sewing machine.

Call me sentimental...........call me a fool, whatever.

Thanks to all for weighing in on my query.

Fide et Fortitudine, aye!

T.

[Pleater]

I have seen what must have been a high quality bought skirt of this type, though it was long past its best, and very worn - very tiny too. It had 'Made in Scotland' and 'pure wool' on the lable.

It was 27 inches long - half the width of the fabric, with a kilting selvage.

The waistband was cut across the fabric, selvage to selvage - as the sett was not precisely square and the band gradually went out of alignment across the apron. The band was only narrow, more like a binding for the top of the kilt. It was reinforced with petersham ribbon put in the front/outside of the band. The uppermost buckle and strap were sewn to the waistband, so there was no rise.

The under apron and the pleats were lined with a normal skirt lining attached by being sewn in under the waistband and joined to the folded over edge of the under apron. There were a couple of light tacks at the edges to hold it in place at the edges of the small pleats. It looked as though at some time it had been expertly replaced, or perhaps it was an addition after purchase.

I can't remember which side it fastened, I'm afraid.

There were two visible strap and buckles and a hidden adjustable slider arangement to hold the under apron at the waist.

The pleats were quite shallow and had 1 and 1/4 inches visible along the waistline, they were tapered and sewn down by machine, close to but not exactly on the fold line.

There was no reinforcing between the lining and the pleats, and the pleats were not cut. The measurements showed that there were several inches more ease at the hips than standard skirt construction, probably to preserve the sewing of the pleats, as the waist level buckle and the slider showed evidence of being under pressure but the lower buckle did not.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: