A Lasses Wear Thread

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I found these ultra-chic items 'specially for String, who will likely wear them to church if her dad looks the other way for too long..



I think I will get her a pair for her 18th birthday.

HEY! I resemble that remark.

BTW you are late, my 18th was quite some time ago.

[Moosedog]

Trela,

This last one loooks like a basic women's "kilted skirt." Usually made with lightweight tartan, either a light twill or a saxony, opens on the left, and has relatively shallow pleats. This often results in a different pattern across the back (i.e. not to the sett nor stripe due to less fabric available.) If you're looking to buy, they are available from many of our vendors here, either off the rack or custom-sewn. Or you might score a great deal on ebay, as there are always a bunch available there.

The pose, however, is up to you!

And, by the way, welcome to the rabble from Oregon's beautiful Willamette Valley.

Moosedog

[Alan H]

BTW you are late, my 18th was quite some time ago.

DARN! Oh, well......I guess I can't get them for you, then. *faux sigh*

[Alan H]

Hey Alan! Where'd you find this last skirt? I am of an age where a mini skirt doesn't look quite right but this one is one I could wear! I'm going to the big Clan MacIntyre gathering in Scotland in July and don't want to put us MacIntyres to shame with a plain sash or rosette if I can find somehing like this!!! I LIKE IT!

Moosedog has it right. This is your regular old, two-buckle, knee-length womens kilt skirt. Pretty much any kiltmaker/manufacturer can make you such a thing. Why don't you check with USA Kilts, who advertise on this site...

http://www.usakilts.com/kilted_skirts.php

...And talk to Kelly about making you the a kilt skirt of whatever length you like. It will be a bit expensive, though fairly priced, but it will be very, very nice and you will be able to wear it for years. Also, if you are good with a sewing machine, a wraparound pleated kilt skirt is not an insurmountable project, as the pleating and shaping are a bit simpler on a skirt than they are on mens kilt.

Welcome to X-Marks!

[Trela]

I am good with a needle, & macihne too! I just might do that! the only problem is making the pattern myself! I haven't found any patterns for a ladies kilted skirt anywhere! (and believe me, I have looked since you started this thread! BTW, Thanks from us lasses for doing that! Now, lasses - Do you think there any other subjects that WE might want to start?

[Mark Keeney]

I am good with a needle, & macihne too! I just might do that! the only problem is making the pattern myself! I haven't found any patterns for a ladies kilted skirt anywhere! (and believe me, I have looked since you started this thread! BTW, Thanks from us lasses for doing that! Now, lasses - Do you think there any other subjects that WE might want to start?

Kilted skirt pattern

[Jack Daw]

Hey Alan! Where'd you find this last skirt? I am of an age where a mini skirt doesn't look quite right but this one is one I could wear! I'm going to the big Clan MacIntyre gathering in Scotland in July and don't want to put us MacIntyres to shame with a plain sash or rosette if I can find somehing like this!!! I LIKE IT!

Hey, I'm going, too! (Sorry to interrupt) Apparently, there are several MacIntyres on this site.

Steve McIntyre

[Alan H]

I am good with a needle, & macihne too! I just might do that! the only problem is making the pattern myself! I haven't found any patterns for a ladies kilted skirt anywhere! (and believe me, I have looked since you started this thread! BTW, Thanks from us lasses for doing that! Now, lasses - Do you think there any other subjects that WE might want to start?

Some articles of clothing go together a WHOLE lot better if you start with a pattern. Jackets and vests are like this, so are shirts and blouses.


But a wraparound skirt kind of isn't like that.

I made up instructions on how to make a simple pleated wraparound skirt.

http://www.stanford.edu/~ahebert/Make_Xskirt.pdf


You could adapt that just a little bit by buying an extra yard more material so that you get another 6-8 pleats. Aim for 15-20 pleats in your skirt if you're average-sized, or maybe 22 or 24 if you're voluptuous.

After you've decided on skirt length, lay out your cut-out fabric on the bed and pleat it different ways to show different parts of the tartan. Some will show one stripe, some will show another stripe, or you can pleat it so that what shows is part of the sett that doesn't have any stripes. We've come to call that "pleating to no stripe" here on X-Marks though a traditional kiltmaker won't know what that means.

You can also pleat to sett, but if you're going to do that you'll want to buy Barbs book to learn how.

"The Art of Kilt Making" by Barbara Tewksbury and Elsie Struemeyer.

Pleating to sett is not terribly hard, but it's a serious mental exercise to plan it out, the first one or two or three times. PLeating your skirt to stripe, or to "no stripe" is not hard at all.

My instructions tell you how to close your skirt with velcro, but if you hate velcro you could use buttons, couldn't you? And if you really liked the look of those leather straps (either one or two) on the side, you could pretty easily buy straps from Stillwater kilts and buckles from Tandy Leather online, and put that together, too.

Personally, I hope some of the lasses here take on an X-Skirt. I wrote the instructions last year and they've been a flop....as opposed to the X-Kilt, which has been a raging success beyond my wildest imagination.

[Trela]

Hey, I'm going to! (Sorry to interrupt) Apparently, there are several MacIntyres on this site.

Steve McIntyre

Well, See ya there! I'll be the one with my mom in the wheelchair / cane walking. Are you going on the Post-Gathering bus Tour as well? We are! My mom was the McIntyre before she married. I married a Cameron but am single now!

[Trela]

Thanks Alan, I'm gonna try using it as close to the instructions as you have printed.
You are very wordy (maybe that's why some haven't used it)! I understood it after reading it and then re-reading it. Drawings work well, too! Maybe more bullets?
It's hard to keep up with all those pages when trying to sew... )
Maybe a full written version with a shorter bulleted / drawings version too for while sewing (quick reference)?