First time making kilt using The art of kiltmaking

[KiltedKnome]

Indeed a very fine video, thanks! But could you please change your link to this one? The one you provide looks like a fraudulent reupload Thanks for the creator, whomever they are! :-)

I made the change.

[Sean Wilson]

NPG I've made a few wool kilts now using TAoKM. When I attempted my first I had no experience of sewing and after looking at all the arguments for and against making a practice kilt I decided I'd make my first using quite cheap cotton. The pros were that I got to practice stitching. I got to practice stitching pleats but the most important part for me was I got to practice what was in the book. When i first read it it made complete sense. It was only when I tried to apply what it said on fabric that I came across parts of it that made me scratch my head.

The cons were obvious. Cotton is not wool and some of the parts in the book rely on skew ing the wool especially with steam which you can't do with cotton. In the end I had a kilt I never wear because it resembles a ladies skirt...

Overall I learned a lot from a practice kilt and personally I'm glad I made one. I have to say when I made my first wool kilt I found wool easier to work on than cotton. And after trying out the book on a cheap £20 throw away garment I felt more confident when I purchased my first length of wool.

Ultimately the decision of test kilt or not, is a personal preference. Either way I hope you enjoy the experience of making your first kilt.

[NPG]

Indeed a very fine video, thanks! But could you please change your link to this one? The one you provide looks like a fraudulent reupload Thanks for the creator, whomever they are! :-)

I discovered that the original link was not his after watching the video and looking for more. His channel is very informative his website is interesting too.

[NPG]

NPG I've made a few wool kilts now using TAoKM. When I attempted my first I had no experience of sewing and after looking at all the arguments for and against making a practice kilt I decided I'd make my first using quite cheap cotton. The pros were that I got to practice stitching. I got to practice stitching pleats but the most important part for me was I got to practice what was in the book. When i first read it it made complete sense. It was only when I tried to apply what it said on fabric that I came across parts of it that made me scratch my head.

The cons were obvious. Cotton is not wool and some of the parts in the book rely on skew ing the wool especially with steam which you can't do with cotton. In the end I had a kilt I never wear because it resembles a ladies skirt...

Overall I learned a lot from a practice kilt and personally I'm glad I made one. I have to say when I made my first wool kilt I found wool easier to work on than cotton. And after trying out the book on a cheap £20 throw away garment I felt more confident when I purchased my first length of wool.

Ultimately the decision of test kilt or not, is a personal preference. Either way I hope you enjoy the experience of making your first kilt.

Thank you for your comment and sharing your personal experience. I think I might end up making a "practice" kilt from something lighter than wool, I need a good summer kilt for down here anyways. But I do think I'm going to follow the Wizards advice and practice my hand stitching first regardless.

[Calico]

I sure hope Steve won't mind commentary on his post. He is, after all, quite right from his viewpoint as a professional.

But I made two (out of five) of my kilts for pride of ownership and being able to say "I made this". But I am not good at hand sewing and never will be. Mine would not pass inspection by a professional handling it. But from 10 feet away, or in pictures, it is basically perfect.

I used color matching thread to minimize the fact I can't do invisible stitching. But I'm still completely happy with both my kilts. YMMV

[The Wizard of BC]

I don't mind commentary at all. In fact I welcome it. There are always many ways to do something. Each person must decide for themselves what they want and how they are going to go about getting there.

This different viewpoints is one of the great things about X Marks. We have professionals like myself and we have the down and dirty X Kilt makers. All are valid and respected.

[Barb T]

Hi all - sorry I'm late to the party. I have taught kiltmaking to lots of people who have never sewed before. The actual stitching part (putting the needle through the fabric) seems to be less of an issue for most people than the process of stitching perfect pleats, and people who have sewn before also have trouble with that. The big issue is lining the stripes up horizontally, centering stripes, and making pleats exactly the right size. I've had people who have never sewn before do beautiful work and those who _have_ sewn before really struggle. If you are used to working with your hands, play a fingered musical instrument, or something like that, I really don't think you'll have much trouble with the actual needle-through-fabric part, and you don't have to practice for an entire kilt to get the hang of maneuvering a needle. That doesn't mean that you won't take out pleats, but that happens to everyone when they are learning how to make perfect pleats.

The trick, as far as I'm concerned, is pinning the dickens out of a pleat before you stitch. I know that TAoK says use only 1 pin, but that was a non-negotiable with Elsie, who learned to stitch pleats without pins when she apprenticed and wanted the instructions written that way. Me, I use lots of pins. For a beginner, I think this is ESSENTIAL. Pinning does NOT take much time - see my post at http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...not-pin-72250/ for a back-of-the-envelope calculation of what it costs in terms of time. Stitching and then taking out a crappy pleat takes a LOT of time. Pin a bunch, and you won't be taking out very many pleats.

And my general advice about fabric always remains the same. Buy the best fabric you can afford, and heavy weight, 100% wool kilting tartan is, in fact, the easiest fabric to make a kilt from. You're going to put 40 hours of work into your first kilt, and spending 40 hours on a cotton practice garment isn't really a good use of your time. If you want to practice the stitching part, get your wool tartan, lay out the kilt, and then take a scrap piece and practice stitching a few pleats. You can keep taking out the same one and re-stitching if you need a bunch of practice. That's what I would do.

[Calico]

... I know that TAoK says use only 1 pin, but that was a non-negotiable with Elsie, who learned to stitch pleats without pins when she apprenticed ...

Barb, that is a fascinating insight. My first kilt was from a class with Elsie, and it made most of us afraid to pin, though we all wanted to!

[JasonMc]

So, my advise - If you really want to make a quality, good looking kilt using the book - Learn how to sew.

Thank you for the advice Steve! I'm buying the needles and supplies today and if I have the self-discipline to learn how to hand sew with a modicum of proficiency, then it's time to learn how to sew a kilt. Now the tough part will be explaining this to my wife

[Taskr]

Now the tough part will be explaining this to my wife

The tough part is then having to explain why you can't mend her buttons and such..