Machine manufacture?

[The Wizard of BC]

Machines do repetitive tasks over and over, faster, more consistently and without tiring better than humans. This is why we use them.

Where a machine fails is when something changes. Machines don't do change. Even a computer just follows directions.

I am an Engineer. I specialize in designing new machines and modifying existing machines to do new tasks. So I think I know of what I speak.
I make Kilts too. And I approach Kiltmaking like an Engineer. See the acknowledgments in the front of the second printing of "The Art of Kiltmaking".

I use an excel spreadsheet and a mathematical formula to determine how much fabric to cut off the bolt and to determine pleats and aprons. But the work, the actual folding and sewing the pleats with perfectly aligned lines, is still hand to eye coordination.

In Kilt making nothing is ever the same. Even on the same Kilt. Most of the work is subjective in nature and that requires an eye and a hand to adapt to those changes.

Weaving is done by a machine yes. To a limit. The setting up of the machine is still ultimately done by a human. This is one of the reasons Tartan is more expensive than some other fabrics.

But once the human has set up the machine it will do the same task over and over, very fast and produce the fabric.

Would it be possible to create a machine to make a kilt? Yes, anything is possible. But I will, like Rocky, place an order for two or three on the day some smart young man produces it.

[Barb T]

If you should some day order The Art of Kiltmaking, you'll see immediately why there is so much hand work in a kilt.

As Wally says, if you stitched the pleats on the outside, the stitching would show. By stitching them by hand, you can use a nearly invisible edge stitch. But *can* they be sewn by machine? Yes - Rocky at USA Kilts stitches his pleats from the inside (so that the stitches don't show) because he doesn't like doing hand work. Is it easy? No - he is really really good a it, and it is essentially a manual job with a machine doing the actual stitching. It's really really tricky to get the pleats in exactly the right place, with the right taper, _and_ line up the stripes. Even Rocky admits that he takes out about every 6th pleat (if I remember correctly). So, we're not talking about automating by machine.

OK, so what about the rest of the kilt? The apron and underapron edges are tailor basted by hand in a "skewed" position to hold them for shaping during pressing. That can't be done effectively by machine. Could you omit the step? Sure, but the kilt wouldn't be as well shaped.

How about the steeking and stabilizer? Again, they have to be stitched through all but one thickness of the kilt, so that the stitches don't show on the outside. Can't do that by machine either. Could you leave them out? Sure, but then there's nothing to keep the stress off the pleat stitching every time you buckle your kilt tight.

How about the canvas? The canvas is attached in a manner that provides the back of the kilt with flexibility horizontally and stiffness vertically, plus "give" between the tartan and the canvas. Can't achieve that by iron-on interfacing, and, if you stitch it through all the way on a machine, the stitching shows.

What about the top band? Sure - if I'm home, I sew that on by machine.

Buckles and straps? Sure you could do it by machine, but the stitching would show. Lining? Ditto, although some people attach part of the lining by machine.

Well, that's about it. Buy the book - most people don't have a clue what's involved in making a trad kilt! I didn't either, and I'd sewn all my life.

Yes, you could certainly make a garment that looks like a kilt (at least from a distance) by machine, but, up close, it wouldn't look the same, and it wouldn't wear the same over a long period of time.

[RockyR]

SNIP... As Wally says, if you stitched the pleats on the outside, the stitching would show. By stitching them by hand, you can use a nearly invisible edge stitch. But *can* they be sewn by machine? Yes - Rocky at USA Kilts stitches his pleats from the inside (so that the stitches don't show) because he doesn't like doing hand work. Is it easy? No - he is really really good a it, and it is essentially a manual job with a machine doing the actual stitching. It's really really tricky to get the pleats in exactly the right place, with the right taper, _and_ line up the stripes. Even Rocky admits that he takes out about every 6th pleat (if I remember correctly). So, we're not talking about automating by machine.

The thing Barb forgot to mention is that we still have to pin the pleats together and THEN sew each one (inside out) and if there is any "stair" effect on the back (meaning the horizontal stripes don't match up perfectly), then we have to tear it out and re-do that pleat. Yes, it happens roughly every 6 - 8 or so pleats since we're sewing them 'blind' and inside out. Not fun wasting 10 minutes of work, but it has to be perfect.

There are other things that Barb brings up (like the buckles) that CAN be done invisibly by machine (sewing the strap upsidedown onto the back side of the fringe and 'return' and then folding the return behind the kilt), BUT it is still a HUMAN using the machine, guiding the material. It's not an automated process. We're still involved in every step and the machine just makes the needle move.


**side note: I have GREAT respect for what Barb does by hand. I'm just no-where NEAR that patient and nowhere NEAR as good at hand sewing, so I had to figure out how to do it the same (sort of) way on a machine, using my hands.