Want help with material weight

[Miah]

Yep Ant has the same understanding I do yard of the cloth square yard as i understand it.

[Miah]

Yep Ant has the same understanding I do yard of the cloth square yard as i understand it.

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Anthony... well done on the reply!

What weights are good for the various kilts, such as the Amerikilt Cotton, Wool and PV light weight for summer and heavier weights for winter.

Anything less than 11 ounces will not sway well (unless the pleats are VERY deep) or hang with uniformity. If you have a four yard kilt in a light cotton... don't sneeze. The kilt will fly up. Remember that a 4 yard wool kilt and an 8 yard cotton twill kilt will act fairly similar. It's a matter of material quantity when you're comparing the two. Common sense really.

What weights does Bear and USA Kilts use and why?

Here's the specs from Marton Mills:
Marton Mills Poly Viscose Balmoral Tartans

Weave: 2/2 Twill

Weight: 375glm (250gsm) 11oz

Useable width: 150cm

Features: Low-Pill™ fibre technology, Teflon® finish as standard.

Now, take that width... divide it by two... and do the math for the "wearing-weight" of a kilt. Then, factor-in the actual kilt yardage (4-9) to determine the "bulk" of your desired need.

Also From Marton Mills on their fabrics (for those with these kilts):

Features: With a soft handle and solid performance at a good price, this is the choice of many garment manufacturers. In response to the demands of the industry, Marton Mills has developed polyester/viscose into a state-of-the-art blend. In conjunction with an Indonesian spinning mill, we have developed Low Pill™ fibre technology, which eliminates pilling on the surface of the fabric during normal wear. Furthermore, every piece of polyester/viscose is finished with DuPont Teflon® as standard, thus maximising stain resistance.

Dyeing: fibre dyed / piece dyed / package dyed

Wash fastness: excellent

Light fastness: excellent

Wash/care: wash at 40 degrees, iron on 2 dots (medium iron), can be dry-cleaned. Fabric conditioner unnecessary and not recommended.

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Anthony... well done on the reply!

What weights are good for the various kilts, such as the Amerikilt Cotton, Wool and PV light weight for summer and heavier weights for winter.

Anything less than 11 ounces will not sway well (unless the pleats are VERY deep) or hang with uniformity. If you have a four yard kilt in a light cotton... don't sneeze. The kilt will fly up. Remember that a 4 yard wool kilt and an 8 yard cotton twill kilt will act fairly similar. It's a matter of material quantity when you're comparing the two. Common sense really.

What weights does Bear and USA Kilts use and why?

Here's the specs from Marton Mills:
Marton Mills Poly Viscose Balmoral Tartans

Weave: 2/2 Twill

Weight: 375glm (250gsm) 11oz

Useable width: 150cm

Features: Low-Pill™ fibre technology, Teflon® finish as standard.

Now, take that width... divide it by two... and do the math for the "wearing-weight" of a kilt. Then, factor-in the actual kilt yardage (4-9) to determine the "bulk" of your desired need.

Also From Marton Mills on their fabrics (for those with these kilts):

Features: With a soft handle and solid performance at a good price, this is the choice of many garment manufacturers. In response to the demands of the industry, Marton Mills has developed polyester/viscose into a state-of-the-art blend. In conjunction with an Indonesian spinning mill, we have developed Low Pill™ fibre technology, which eliminates pilling on the surface of the fabric during normal wear. Furthermore, every piece of polyester/viscose is finished with DuPont Teflon® as standard, thus maximising stain resistance.

Dyeing: fibre dyed / piece dyed / package dyed

Wash fastness: excellent

Light fastness: excellent

Wash/care: wash at 40 degrees, iron on 2 dots (medium iron), can be dry-cleaned. Fabric conditioner unnecessary and not recommended.

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Anthony... well done on the reply!

What weights are good for the various kilts, such as the Amerikilt Cotton, Wool and PV light weight for summer and heavier weights for winter.

Anything less than 11 ounces will not sway well (unless the pleats are VERY deep) or hang with uniformity. If you have a four yard kilt in a light cotton... don't sneeze. The kilt will fly up. Remember that a 4 yard wool kilt and an 8 yard cotton twill kilt will act fairly similar. It's a matter of material quantity when you're comparing the two. Common sense really.

What weights does Bear and USA Kilts use and why?

Here's the specs from Marton Mills:
Marton Mills Poly Viscose Balmoral Tartans

Weave: 2/2 Twill

Weight: 375glm (250gsm) 11oz

Useable width: 150cm

Features: Low-Pill™ fibre technology, Teflon® finish as standard.

Now, take that width... divide it by two... and do the math for the "wearing-weight" of a kilt. Then, factor-in the actual kilt yardage (4-9) to determine the "bulk" of your desired need.

Also From Marton Mills on their fabrics (for those with these kilts):

Features: With a soft handle and solid performance at a good price, this is the choice of many garment manufacturers. In response to the demands of the industry, Marton Mills has developed polyester/viscose into a state-of-the-art blend. In conjunction with an Indonesian spinning mill, we have developed Low Pill™ fibre technology, which eliminates pilling on the surface of the fabric during normal wear. Furthermore, every piece of polyester/viscose is finished with DuPont Teflon® as standard, thus maximising stain resistance.

Dyeing: fibre dyed / piece dyed / package dyed

Wash fastness: excellent

Light fastness: excellent

Wash/care: wash at 40 degrees, iron on 2 dots (medium iron), can be dry-cleaned. Fabric conditioner unnecessary and not recommended.

[Freedomlover]

In the 'weave' specification above 2/2 is mentioned. Just for information, those numbers are determined by the number of filling (weft, or side to side) threads the warp (longwise) threads alternately pass over and under. In this case they pass over 2 and under 2. Suppose that the first warp thread starts by passing alternately over 2, under 2, over two, under 2, etc.(called 'up' and 'down') The thread next to it starts by passing over 1 and under 2, then progresses 2 up, 2 down. This produces a 45 degree twill. Steeper and shallower twills are easily produced by simply changing the draw, as 3/2 or 2/3.

[Freedomlover]

In the 'weave' specification above 2/2 is mentioned. Just for information, those numbers are determined by the number of filling (weft, or side to side) threads the warp (longwise) threads alternately pass over and under. In this case they pass over 2 and under 2. Suppose that the first warp thread starts by passing alternately over 2, under 2, over two, under 2, etc.(called 'up' and 'down') The thread next to it starts by passing over 1 and under 2, then progresses 2 up, 2 down. This produces a 45 degree twill. Steeper and shallower twills are easily produced by simply changing the draw, as 3/2 or 2/3.

[Freedomlover]

In the 'weave' specification above 2/2 is mentioned. Just for information, those numbers are determined by the number of filling (weft, or side to side) threads the warp (longwise) threads alternately pass over and under. In this case they pass over 2 and under 2. Suppose that the first warp thread starts by passing alternately over 2, under 2, over two, under 2, etc.(called 'up' and 'down') The thread next to it starts by passing over 1 and under 2, then progresses 2 up, 2 down. This produces a 45 degree twill. Steeper and shallower twills are easily produced by simply changing the draw, as 3/2 or 2/3.

[Barb T]

Hi

I have to disagree with Anthony's posting on fabric weight. A piece of tartan designated as "16 oz" is called that regardless of its width. Even though one might buy one tartan as a single-width piece (26-28") and another tartan as a double-width piece (56-58"), they would both be called "16 oz."

What I'm going to add now relates to traditional kilts and worsted tartan. Many of the postings on this site reflect an interest in other kinds of fabrics, but my experience is with traditional worsted. So, if you're interested in poly/wool blends, cotton, nylon, etc., you can ignore the rest of my comments!

If you order tartan, the source will be able to tell you what the weight is, and any of the web sites I've seen that sell tartan list it by weight. But, how do you choose a weight for a kilt? Here are some guidelines:

18-21 oz fabric is the traditional regimental weight, and it's really bomb proof. Not many people wear a kilt made of fabric this heavy, and there aren't many tartans woven in this weight. No one's ever had me make one in this weight fabric, for good reason, I guess!

16 oz fabric is the traditional heavy weight fabric for a man's kilt. Probably too hot and heavy for a warm climate, but it looks fabulous, because it holds a press _really_ well and swings like a dream. Nice to work on. Personally, I love this weight, and my own piping kilt is this weight. We compete all summer (in the NE US), and I don't find it unbearably hot. The socks are actually much more uncomfortable in hot weather than the kilt is.

13-14 oz fabric is a nice compromise for weight, swing, and stability of the pleats. This is commonly called "medium weight". If you think 16 oz will be too hot, this is what I'd choose.

11-12 oz fabric is great if you want a light-weight kilt (either for hiking or dancing), and most Highland dancers compete in kilts of this weight. Heavier weights are just too much for dancers. Lots of dress tartans come in this weight (e.g., those by D.C. Dalgliesh). You just have to realize that a kilt in this weight will wrinkle more easily than one made of heavier weight fabric and that you have to take more careful care of it and press it more often.

10 oz fabric is just too light for a kilt. I've occasionally made kilts of this weight when no other tartan was available except as a custom weave, and I've been disappointed every time. The swing is poor, and the kilt wrinkles like crazy. If you're trying to decide whether a fabric is too light weight, ask yourself whether the fabric would make a nice shirt. If the answer is yes, then it's too light to make a nice traditional kilt.

Remember - what I've said above pertains to traditional kilts!! You can make a kilt from anything, if you're happy with it; it just won't necessarily be a _traditional_ kilt.

Cheers,

Barb

[Jimmy Carbomb]

10 oz fabric is just too light for a kilt. I've occasionally made kilts of this weight when no other tartan was available except as a custom weave, and I've been disappointed every time. The swing is poor, and the kilt wrinkles like crazy. If you're trying to decide whether a fabric is too light weight, ask yourself whether the fabric would make a nice shirt. If the answer is yes, then it's too light to make a nice traditional kilt.

BINGO!

Barb, that really DOES go for the other fabrics too. It even gets worse when the fabrics are washed and dried, which naturally thins them over time.

I DO have one of those 18 ounce kilts, and there's NO WAY that I'm going to sew-it up! I appreciate the fingers that God gave me, and I want to keep them!

I can tell that there a few of us that are REALLY going to enjoy your contributions to the site. I'm so glad that you've joined-in!!!!!