How long does it take to make a kilt?

[Wompet]

My handsewns have been in the 20-30 hour range as well.
The few machine-sewn kilts I've made took less time, but they didn't have canvas or linings ...

It does not seem humanly possible! Yet, according to master kilt maker Elsie Stuehmeyer, that was a requirement to become a journeyman kilt maker at Thomas Gordon & Sons. Truly amazing!

When she said that, did you get the image of the Kilting Gnome and her ilk sequestered in a Glasgow shop, surrounded by bolts of tartan that were being woven by Rumpelstiltskin in the corner?
Or was that just me?

[Barb T]

It takes Elsie 18-20 hours to make a kilt (at least that's what she's always told me). I'm typically in the 20-24 hours range. To be honest, if someone is actually completing a kilt from start to finish in 10 hours, he/she is not making a kilt the way that Elsie and I do.

[Dixiecat]

I once chatted with the kiltmaker that was working at a local Scottish regalia store. He had been in the UK forces making kilts. He said it was common to get an order just before the end of the day and deliver it the next morning. It meant working all night. He worked by pleating to the stripe and pinning first.

[Riverkilt]

Interesting. My understanding is that hand sewn kiltmakers abhore pins and never use them. They look at pinning pleats as the mark of a tailor, not a kiltmaker.

[sydnie7]

Interesting. My understanding is that hand sewn kiltmakers abhore pins and never use them. They look at pinning pleats as the mark of a tailor, not a kiltmaker.

The Art of Kiltmaking calls for use of one pin per pleat. Barb T later "confessed" that she pins the heck out of each pleat, but the book is written per Elsie's stringent protocol.

If pins are good enough for Barb, they're good enough for me! Goes without saying (but then it usually has to be said) that others are welcome to their own thoughts on the issue.

[Tartan Tess]

I bet I could make an Elsie/Barb directed kilt in 25 hours....it's the "Tweaking" that kills you!
But we all know what it would look like.......

[Riverkilt]

I think what some folks don't yet understand is that there is a big difference between how the instructors at the Keith Kilt School teach students to hand sew kilts and the methods used by kiltmakers who never attended such a school or apprenticed under someone who never attended such a school.

For sure its a controversial issue among kiltmakers. Those trained in the old ways call other methods "manufactured method" or "tailored method."

Ironically, one big difference seems to be the use of pins. My kiltmaker once wrote me, "pins are something I never use." That is because she was taught to hand sew kilts without the use of pins.

Your mileage may differ. While kilts acceptable to us may be sewn up in many different manners - both on machines and with differing methods of hand sewing - the members of the Traditional Kiltmakers Guild don't use pins and they consider that a hallmark of their craft.

What I can't figure out is if using pins speeds up kiltmaking, or slows it down due to putting them in and taking them out.

Myself - I remain amazed that a hand sewn kilt can be so well made and the tartan so well aligned without the use of pins. For me, that's a mark of incredible craftsmanship.

[Tartan Tess]

I have taken a class once from Elsie herself and twice from her apprentices.
I think the mystery lies in when you use the pin.
We NEVER use pins to tack down the pleats to iron or sew. Only use them to mark where the waist or hip mark on the tartan needs to be folded.

[fluter]

What I can't figure out is if using pins speeds up kiltmaking, or slows it down due to putting them in and taking them out.

That's easily answered.

If you're as good as Elsie Stuehmeyer or Kathy Lare, then excess pins would merely slow you down. What Tartan Tess is saying is that in Elsie's method, a single pin is used. Elsie and Kathy were trained as professionals, so speed was of the essence.

I work on a more mundane level, so it's likely that a few extra pins will speed up my work, by avoiding having to re-sew pleats. My stitching technique still has to be good, but my accuracy is not up to a full-time kiltmaker with decades of experience.

[Kiltman]

Back to the question at hand. For me it takes about 30 hrs. to do a hand sewn kilt. To be truthful I have never actually measured the time. Time appears to me of less importance than the quality of the kilt.