X-Kilt - My First Attempt has Begun...

**Woodsman** · 30th December 14, 09:35 PM

Thanks! Will be following your progress in hopes of braving this myself one day!

**MinusHD** · 2nd January 15, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by Stitchwiz

Look for the positive and you will enjoy the process more. After all, we, too, are all works in process...

Absolutely! As I have progressed through this process I really have picked up on the gifts you have mentioned, and it has become more enjoyable in spite of the minor frustrations.

**mrok** · 17th April 15, 01:32 PM

When I decided to make a kilt I did some research on line XmarkstheScot provided my with plenty of information. My first kilt wasn't great but I learned from my mistakes, but my second kilt was even better and the third kilt was nearly perfect. Practice and make mistake, be patient and you will get there. Goodluck.

**Taskr** · 24th April 15, 10:55 AM

And done!! Thanks, Alan, for a set of instructions that made this attempt possible.
I can manage minor hand sew and machine mending, but I have never attempted an article of clothing. It certainly has an amateur look, but lots learned for XKilt #2 (cloth was double wide so I can certainly do another). I does look like I make some errors properly "centering" the 3" pleats over the 5.25" under pleat by a wee bit here and there which might be contributing somewhat to the way some pleats are falling. I might also have sewn too tight and too close to the edge of the 3" pleat. I didn't bother sewing the underpleats because of this ...want to see if things might look better after I put it through a wash.
When I sort out my pic dementia I'll post a few of production and kilt.

**ratspike** · 31st December 14, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by MinusHD

After a few months of being stowed under the bed (after barely getting started), I decided to pull it all out yesteday and use some of my holiday time to get the X-Kilt a little further down the road to completion.

It's been both fun and frustrating. My stitching is just plain pitiful (I did do some practice runs... to no avail). My zigzag "bat tacks" are sloppy & pretty weak, and as thorough as Alan's instructions are I found myself confused a couple or times (perhaps because I stayed up so late last night working on pleats). Sometimes my density for such things surprises even me..

I'm to the point where I have the pleats and under pleats seen down, and tacked. The over apron is hemmed. With my skills, not too bad for part of a couple days, even considering it looks UG-LY. Next I'll be tapering the fell... Oh joy!!! :-) I'll pick up on that tomorrow.

So, this kilt won't win any awards, may not fit or even be wearable, but... I have learned a heck of a lot just sitting down and taking the time to try something new. Best case, I'll have a homemade junker kilt to wear around the house & doing lawn work... Then I'll start thinking about X-Kilt #2... And getting some additional sewing advice... And practicing.

Thank you all for the advice and encouragement. Those of you who are turning out those really nice and consistently stitched X-Kilts, I'm impressed, and duly humbled.

That all sounds eerily familiar. My first kilt was a disaster. The stitching was a mess and it was completely unwearable. Took half of forever to finish too. Kilt #2 was better. I was able to wear it at least. I also struggled at times with the X Kilt manual and The Art of Kiltmaking. It's no fault of Alan's or Barb's by any means, I just have trouble learning new things from written instructions. Doing it wrong a bunch of times is the best teacher for me.

Couple of things that you might find helpful:
After you've got your tapering done and you're ready to sew down the pleats, use a zig zag to sew two pleats together rather than top stitching each pleat edge. It'll pull the pleats together nice and tight, plus save you a bit of time. If you look closely at photos of an Alt Kilt you'll see what I mean.

You can often use a triple stitch in place of a bar tack. You'll commonly see triple stitches on PALS webbing in lieu of bar tacks. Since I can't afford, and don't have space for, a bartacker I use double and triple stitches on my messenger bags and it's plenty strong.

Using some sort of guide will make the edge stitching on your pleats much straighter and will let you sew way faster. The domestic machine I used to have came with a blind hem foot that worked perfectly. I have compensating feet for my Juki in a range from 1/16" to 1/2" that serve the same purpose, they just aren't adjustable. Being able to floor the pedal and still get a perfectly straight stitch is pretty fantastic.

If your machine has a metal bed with threaded holes close to the presser foot, you can almost definitely use a hemming attachment. Why is this rad? Because you don't have to press, pin, or otherwise waste a bunch of time getting your hem ready to stitch. I serge - zig zag works too - the bottom edge and then run it through a single fold hemmer, but you can get double fold hemmers as well.

**MinusHD** · 2nd January 15, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by ratspike

That all sounds eerily familiar. My first kilt was a disaster. The stitching was a mess and it was completely unwearable. Took half of forever to finish too. Kilt #2 was better. I was able to wear it at least. I also struggled at times with the X Kilt manual and The Art of Kiltmaking. It's no fault of Alan's or Barb's by any means, I just have trouble learning new things from written instructions. Doing it wrong a bunch of times is the best teacher for me.

Looks like we're a lot a like, Bob. Hopefully my kiltmaking skills can become 1/10th of yours and others here at XMTS... And 1/10th may a little generous.

Your advice got a bit over my head, but I can get most of it figured out with a little research. I like the tip on zigzag stitching the pleasure from the fell to the waist. I may try that next since I need to re-do the tapering. They got crooked and I decided to work all the way around it to see how bad it really looked... And it's pretty bad. My stictch ripper is about to go into full time work.

Any advice on getting the tapering even so they don't pull/slant off center?

**plaid preacher** · 2nd January 15, 09:44 AM

Greetings Minus; and welcome to the frustrated rabble. Many of us have been there, reading and re-reading the X-kilt instructions and still having no clue. A couple of years ago that was my story. The wonderful thing about this site is there are people who will answer every question with great patience - Alan H included. So if you run into trouble, just ask.

I was lucky that I have a wife who sews a little and could help me with the technique type stuff. To keep your seams straight a couple of hints are ... 1) there are lines on the sole plate of the machine that will help with some of your seams, but they are 1/4 or 1/2 inch guides and often you will want to your stitching closer to the edge than that. For the stuff right at the edge, I used the little gap at the front of the pressure foot to guide my work. If I fed the material into the machine so that the edge was right against the edge of that gap, I got stitching that was nice and close to the edge. And one more thing ... DON'T FLOOR IT! This isn't the Indy 500, this is a sewing project that is akin to driving your first go-kart. Go slow until you figure out how to control the beast. My X-kilt started me on a little bit of a sewing binge, but still I go slow.

And as for your tapering question - like woodworking measure twice, sew once. More often than not, the layout is the real tricky part. Make sure it's laid out right before you sew and you will be happier. And if you aren't happy, rip the stitches out and do it again. My stitch ripper is my best friend.

**ratspike** · 2nd January 15, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by MinusHD

Looks like we're a lot a like, Bob. Hopefully my kiltmaking skills can become 1/10th of yours and others here at XMTS... And 1/10th may a little generous.

Your advice got a bit over my head, but I can get most of it figured out with a little research. I like the tip on zigzag stitching the pleasure from the fell to the waist. I may try that next since I need to re-do the tapering. They got crooked and I decided to work all the way around it to see how bad it really looked... And it's pretty bad. My stictch ripper is about to go into full time work.

Any advice on getting the tapering even so they don't pull/slant off center?

I marked the pleat width at the hip and at the waist, which made it easier to keep things even. I only made maybe a dozen or so box pleated kilts though, before deciding that I prefer knife pleats, so someone else may have more useful advice.