Am I on the Right Track for Kiltmaking?

[Mark's Mom]

I am not an authority at all but I have a little knowledge. First I wonder if your fabric is a proper tartan. It might be one of the many unofficial tartans. I am, for example, sitting with a pillow at my back from one of the great American wool houses. The tartan seems to be a correct rendition of one of the Black Stewart tartans but the size of the pattern may not be correct. The size of the sett from one of the authorized weavers may be different. Just a thought. I admire your dedication and generosity. Keep it up. I saw some interesting fabric pleated to the pattern in various photos and at Loon Mountain this year. It is an art in itself.

Hi Tulloch,
I am pretty sure my fabric is not a true tartan because it would have been much more expensive if it were. My thought was that I could learn to construct a kilt with this less expensive fabric so that if I fail, I will not have spent so much. If I succeed, then I would like to do another kilt in a true tartan. That would really be great, because I am sure Mark will want to wear the first kilt out and about before the prom.

[Elf]

Hi Tulloch,
I am pretty sure my fabric is not a true tartan because it would have been much more expensive if it were. My thought was that I could learn to construct a kilt with this less expensive fabric so that if I fail, I will not have spent so much. If I succeed, then I would like to do another kilt in a true tartan. That would really be great, because I am sure Mark will want to wear the first kilt out and about before the prom.

Yes, I believe this is a very good attitude. My first kilt was prefaced by a plain fabric test run. Although pleat size didn't matter, I pleated it to the same dimensions that I calculated for the tartan fabric waiting in the wings. It helped a lot to confirm I was reading the book correctly. When I did pick up the tartan, I only did two pleats an evening. Matching up the sett was so nerve-wracking that I couldn't stand to do more. The rest of the sewing was less stressful and went faster. Every project involves learning so my overall advise is just dive in and get to learning, since learning is fun.

[fixornot]

I suggest you dont over think it or you will take the fun out of it, which, dare I say it, The Art of Kiltmaking does, the level of perfection required to complete a kilt by the "Book" is extremely difficult at best and not nessessarly atainable to all. Sorry Barb its a great book, I've read it twice but what you expect just takes the fun out of it.
I am on my 14th kilt, their all different none of them are perfect but I am the only one that knows it and to date no one has come up to me and said "that's not right" almost always they are simply in awe that I make these things at all, and by the way when I made my first kilt and put it on I have not worn a pair of pants from that day forward, I am a 24/7 rain or shine kilt wearer and proud of it, perfect or not have fun.
If one day Barb should find her way to the west coast and offer up a class, I will be the first one in line in the hope that some of that perfection will rub of on me because it is after all an art and a precise garment you will find no where else except maybe NASA.