Why hand-sewn?

[Riverkilt]

In the seeing comes the understanding.

Go to ANY highland games and just look....

Or, if you can "swing" it, just wear one in your size, preferably tailored to your body.

I made the brave leap to my first hand sewn a couple years ago...now I own six. Not for bragging rights...just because I love them so!

Check out the hand sewns in my gallery and Ham's gallery and any other pics.

Like everything else there are varying degrees of quality to meet a person's needs and wants.

Be careful though...hand sewn traditional kilts are the most addictive of all kilts.

Ron

[macwilkin]

Not trying to offend anyone here.. Just trying to undestand the phenomenon..

You all talk about the the invisibility of the thread and the fell, etc.. How many people are actually looking for these things? Are those really PRACTICAL considerations?

I heard a similar arguement in Civil War reenacting from those who were known in the hobby as "farbs" -- my fellow reenactors will recognize the term, for those who are not reenactors, it is slang for someone who doesn't care about authenticty and "doing it right". Now, I'm not saying you are a "farb" because you made a similar statement -- just using an example here. No offence meant or intended.

Folks who criticized those of us who wanted to be as authentic as possible usually would say, "how many people actually care that your uniform is authentic?" or something similar. Yes, there are probably very few out there who actually do -- but it wasn't about them, it was the fact that Iwould know if I was being historically incorrect. The park service trained me to be as authentic as possible so the public could have a quality living history presentation, whether they knew everything that went into that program, uniform, etc. was another matter.

So, to me, the "peace of mind" that I have a quality-made garment is practical -- my frugal Scots grandmother would say the same thing. Notice I didn't say that the quality was only from Scotland, though.

Regards,

Todd

[Mike1]

Are those really PRACTICAL considerations?

The honest answer to this question is that they do not sound practical to you.

Is it practical to pay the extra money for a business-class seat on a flight, when coach is so much cheaper?

Is it practical to drive anything other than a Kia, with vehicle (and fuel) prices the way they are?

Is it practical to eat an expensive steak dinner, when peanut butter and jelly can fill your empty stomach?

Do you see the similarities?

If you can justify the practicality of any personal purchase decision, then you have made the right choice.

[Jimmy Carbomb]

How much better is the quality, really? Is it really worth all of that extra cost? If so, then why?

One overlooked point. If the client is an "odd" shape that requires some work in the hips to keep the tartan "intact"... it's much easier to do it by hand. You can actually bend (or work) the wool around your knee while you're stitching, and it will hold the shape. Ninety-nine percent of the kilts out there really don't require that much work though, which means that machine stitching will work just fine.