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.