Measuring for a tank from another kilt (thumbnail imgs)

[AKScott]

I think I got it. I have two other threads on the general subject I will ask the mods to lock right after I link them into this one.

Situation: I want to order a tank.

Challenge: I live very far away from the nearest experienced kilt maker.

Solution: Buy a kilt close to my size, wear it several days, pin it up where I think I want, and then have a kilt I can take measurements from.

Observations: Where my kilt rides on my body before breakfast, before luch, after breakfast and after lunch are four different places. Having this kilt in the house to wear for several days has been eye opening. I usually have a very light dinner, that is the way my metabolism works.

If you are particular enough about the fit of your clothing to be reading this far, I highly recomend this solution. I am going to be able to specify the measurements of my tank with high confidence and a good idea of how it will fit.

Short version: My off the peg used kilt is within one inch of all my desired dimensions.

Overall length top to bottom is one inch longer than I want:



When I put the top of the waist where I want it throughout the day it looks like this:



When I put the selvedge edge where I want it, one inch difference, it looks like this:



I also pinned an extra inch of fell into the pleats and donned the kilt quite gingerly:



I found that the widest part of my hips moves up, almost an inch, when I stand on my toes.





EDIT: all these pictures are fasting before breakfast. I will of course put the thing back on gingerly after breakfast.

This thread can be locked: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...ot-pics-64250/
This thread can be locked: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-pleats-64312/

[Calico]

Not to denigrate your efforts, but I think you are over-analyzing the whole thing.

If you are four different sizes during the course of the day, then no matter what size (measurements) you have your kilt made to, it will not fit 75% of the time.

[Tobus]

I'm finding it hard to believe your body changes shape that much after every meal. Unless you're having some sort of allergic reaction and bloating up like a balloon, or eating WAY more than you should be in one sitting, a kilt should be able to accommodate minor fluctuations in shape during the day. And if nothing else, that's what the buckle adjustments are for.

I tend to agree with Calico... barring some sort of medical condition, there's a bit of overanalyzing going on here. Maybe take the measurements at various points during the day, find the average, and use that. If the kilt is built properly, it should fit the average at the middle adjustment hole on the straps, and you can loosen it or tighten it as needed throughout the day.

[Paul Henry]

I admit to not really following what you are doing,When I make a kilt for a client I take a series of measurements when I meet them, I don't take them over the course of a day.Of course sometimes during wear the straps might be tighter or looser than others,and the way a kilt fits enables a lot of adjustments.
Whatever kiltmaker you find, work with their measurement system, and I;m sure that the kilt will fit

[xman]

I agree that the best thing you can do is to listen carefully to the instructions given to you by your kilt maker and follow them to the letter if you will be taking your own measurements. Steve at Freedom Kilts (link above) has a nicely detailed video on his site about taking measurements. http://www.freedomkilts.com/fit.php Watch it, but get someone else to take them for you.

I would also say this. I have had many questions about fit and construction even very recently myself, but all were answered by wearing some kilts myself. You can easily end up second guessing yourself and everyone else if you let yourself. Take a deep breath, release your desire to know what you cannot yet know and trust the directions you are given. An understanding kilt maker should fit you out well.

[Danwell]

I'm in Australia, and ordered a kilt from John at Keltoi in October last year. I emailed him my measurements after he instructed what measurements he wanted, and he made a kilt based on those. The kilt fits absolutely perfectly and I don't think even if he'd been here to measure me that it would have been a better fit.

Most of these guys know what they're doing, and unless you're a really peculiar shape, they'll make a kilt to fit you

[AKScott]

I admit overanalysis is one of my middle names.

If you are coming into my operating room for my team to do surgery on you it is a good thing. We are prepared for any eventuality.

I believe where I have this thing pinned now is going to work for me throughout the day, about to find out.

I burn 2500 to 3000 calories daily, split in two main meals. I don't have any significant trouble with bloating, but the time involved in consuming a 1500 calorie lunch compares favorably with mid air refueling.

I got to here because I took a printed off kilt measurement form to two different tailor shops here in my town, and got measurements two inches apart from each other. My town is a great place to shop for hunting rifles, but we don't have any kilt shops.

If this thread had been available three weeks ago when I was first disabused of the notion measuring me for a kilt would take ten minutes I could have saved about two weeks of calendar time getting to repeatable measurements.

This thread is intended to be search button gold for the next individual who wants his tank to fit right but can't conveniently visit an experienced kilt maker.

[Barb T]

You really can't get good measurements for a new kilt from an existing kilt (except for length - see below, though). For example, many kiltmakers, including me, add an inch to the right hand apron edge to make sure it covers the underapron. The extra on the apron edge is necessary because a kilt has a finite thickness, and, if you made it exactly to someone's measurements, it wouldn't go quite all the way round what with the pleating, the canvas, the lining, and the double thick aprons. I also add an inch to the underapron right hand edge at the hips, and a half inch at the waist. This is so that the underapron can come far enough around for the strap to reach and go through the "buttonhole" where the strap goes through to the outside of the kilt - it's typically an inch or more back from the edge of the apron. If you didn't add a little, the strap wouldn't make it far enough through the buttonhole to buckle comfortably. (And you add 1/2" less at the _right hand_ underapron edge at the waist than at the hips so that the waist really snugs in and lets the apron buckle over top, which is why you don't add at the left underapron edge instead).

For all of the above reasons, if you measured an existing kilt and gave the waist and hip measurements to a kiltmaker, you could easily wind up with a kilt that is too big.

It truly isn't hard to measure waist and hips for a kilt. Get someone else to do it (don't try to do it on yourself), and use the measuring instructions that your kiltmaker provides.

The hardest thing to measure is length, and again, you should use the exact measuring instructions that the kiltmaker asks you to use. If you don't, you can wind up with a kilt that is 2" too short, 2" too long, or something in between.

[AKScott]

You really can't get good measurements for a new kilt from an existing kilt (except for length - see below, though).

...snip...

The hardest thing to measure is length, and again, you should use the exact measuring instructions that the kiltmaker asks you to use. If you don't, you can wind up with a kilt that is 2" too short, 2" too long, or something in between.

It is because I was getting such a variation in length measurements from local tailors (using my kilt maker's instructions) that I ordered in an inexpensive kilt for trial fitting.

I agree natural waist and widest part of hips measurement is pretty straight forward.

Once I had some comments on pictures of the trial kilt, I averaged up my measurements from the local crew, measured the total length of the trial kilt and spent some time on the phone with my kiltmaker. I feel good that my incoming tank will fit correctly.