2008 Kilt Kamp in Franklin, NC

[Moosedog]

I remember it, just thought it was spelled "marvy." Kinda like "groovy." Glad to see it resurrected.

How is the registration coming along?

Moosedog

[Barb T]

I remember it, just thought it was spelled "marvy." Kinda like "groovy." Glad to see it resurrected.

How is the registration coming along?

Moosedog

Three so far, that I know of. Anyone else want to join us? Even for a couple of days? I could at least get you started.

And, yeh, I just checked Google, and it's supposed to be spelled "marvy".....I'll have to get it right next time, if I can remember!

[starbkjrus]

Three so far, that I know of. Anyone else want to join us? Even for a couple of days? I could at least get you started.
...snip

I was making plans for us to come down for a few days just to meet & greet, enjoy the seminar(s) & festival and the mountains. BUT the Bishop has scheduled Ron's ordination for the very same weekend.

Oh, well. Everyone have fun.

[BluesDoxieGa]

Barb,
My brother and I are signed up for the entire week. We are both excited about attending! I just need to book the motel room and work on my sewing skills.

[ThreadBbdr]

I SO wish I could come, and I'll be there in NC - but at the other end of the state (Camp Lejeune) and two weeks later (4th of July weekend and the week after). I'd already booked the tickets and rental car before I joined the forum. Please tell me that this isn't my only opportunity to take a class with you!

And I'm sure that "I'll be two or three hours away, but you can come see me over the weekend if you have liberty" would go over REAL well with my son. On the other hand, "I'll be working on your kilt" MIGHT have made up for it LOL.

BTW, Barb, the book got here and it is even better than people told me it would be!

As soon as JC gets out of the field and gets me his measurements, a plain wool prototype will be in progress.

[Chef]

I will more than likely be attending. I can barely sew on a button so the the likelihood that I can actually make a kilt is remote at best but I am interested in learning about the process even if I'm not likely to make something I would be willing to wear.

[Barb T]

Shameless bump!

[wsk]

... I can barely sew on a button so the the likelihood that I can actually make a kilt is remote at best but I am interested in learning about the process even if I'm not likely to make something I would be willing to wear.

I hadn't picked up a needle in more than thirty years when I took Elsie Stuehmeyer's kilt making workshop earlier this month. Elsie is the the other author of Barb T's book. I had to learn everything. Everything.

I bought some of the remnant x-marks tartan from Fraser & Kirkbright so it wouldn't cost me a lot in the (likely) event that my first kilt turned out to be completely unwearable. I recognized early in the workshop that I was going to have to sacrifice quality and accuracy in this kilt just to keep up and get it finished or most of the way there by the end of the week. And I wanted to keep up with the class because there was so much to learn.

Still, despite pleating that totally sucks, the kilt fits quite well and is wearable. It just isn't as pretty as it should be - no where near pretty actually.

So, things to do before and at kilt kamp:

1. Read Barb's & Elsie's book.
2. Read it again.
3. Practice the stitches on good sturdy cloth - I was surprised at how tough and inflexible my tartan was
4. Find a seat by a window so you have good light - I was in the center of the room and on cloudy days it was a bit gloomy. This is even more important if you are sewing a dark tartan.
5. If the skin on your fingers gets sore from gripping and pushing the needle, paint the area with New Skin it helps protect against abrasion.
6. ????
7. Profit!

[Barb T]

So, things to do before and at kilt kamp:
1. Read Barb's & Elsie's book.
2. Read it again.
3. Practice the stitches on good sturdy cloth - I was surprised at how tough and inflexible my tartan was
4. Find a seat by a window so you have good light - I was in the center of the room and on cloudy days it was a bit gloomy. This is even more important if you are sewing a dark tartan.
5. If the skin on your fingers gets sore from gripping and pushing the needle, paint the area with New Skin it helps protect against abrasion.

1 and 2) I actually don't recommend reading the book ahead of time, although browsing certainly doesn't hurt. The instructions are meant to be used with tartan and needle in hand, one instruction at a time. Most people have a really hard time getting anything out of sequential instructions unless they are actually doing the task. Doesn't mean that the instructions are inadequate; it just means that they weren't written for that purpose, and it can be very frustrating if you think you can get prepared by reading the instructions.

3) If you want to practice, use tartan rather than a stiff non-wool cloth. Working on wool tartan is very different from hand stitching on, say, duck or canvas or denim. Heavy weight tartan is thick, but it isn't stiff and hard to push a needle through the way duck, canvas, and denim are.

4) In the list of "what to bring" that I've sent to those who've registered, I indicate that they should bring a task light of some kind. An Ott-Lite is ideal.

5) A thimble is absolutely crucial and also on the list. I recommend making your own comfortable one:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/c...607/index.html

Particularly for guys, this is a much better alternative than a metal tailor's thimble.

And last, everyone at a kilt kamp works at a different rate. I'm there to teach the same step 12 times, if I have to, whenever someone needs to learn it. Conceptually, the earlier steps are the hardest and the last the easiest to get on your own out of the book. Even if you don't finish your kilt at the Kamp, it's not a tough thing to do to finish it after you get home using the instructions in the book. Elsie taught kiltmaking for years without any instruction handouts whatsoever (that's how I learned), and then it was crucial to finish before you left. Now, with the book, it's not that big a deal if you don't finish.

[The Wizard of BC]

and this last comment by Barb is why I make Kilts with a machine to my method and have never taken Barb's course.
If there are 12 students Barb would never get around to teaching the others because she would have to stand over me constantly with a big stick. The other would get annoyed by the sound of whacking. And Barbs voice would get louder and louder and higher pitched as she repeatedly said "NO STEVE! That's not right. Rip it out and do it right."
She writes books and writes books and some of us just sit on the floor chewing on the covers.