Traditional, hand-sewn kilt, finally!

[Wompet]

Beautiful job there, Star.
Where did you get the idea of using nylon straps?

First of all, I'm left-handed.

There's a lovely little bit of boxed text in The Art of Kiltmaking.

It starts with..."So, you're left handed...ummm...." and goes on to explain that if so, you're just going to have to figure something out, because there is no way to hand sew a traditional kilt left-handed.

As a lefty two-thirds of the way through his seventh hand-sewn kilt - I love that little box.

And, following the instructions on the book to the letter, it's true. The main concern is sewing the pleats. The technique used essentially requires that one sew the pleat edges with the right hand.
...

The rest of the instructions are also written for right handed people, but can be modified (with care, with care, turn the book over, double check, triple check) to use the left hand. As a matter of fact, many aspects of the internal construction seemed to be easier from the left handed perspective. Can any other lefties chime in and confirm this?

I find that to be true. But I also had the benefit of having an experienced left-handed kiltmaker at the '07 Kilt Kamp; she showed me how to interpret most of the book for a left-hander. This was a double blessing - it made things easier for me, and it kept Elsie from muttering things in Glaswegian while she was watching me.

[way2fractious]

(For everyone else, I got to see the nearly completed kilt before the Palm Springs trip.)

A long, long time ago I wrote some sentences about the wacky world of fabric. It's NOT a perfect world, as The F-H.B.C.A.G. found out with this piece. I've run across other oddities before. And just to be sure, in Palm Springs, The Wizard of B.C. related to me several other examples of flagrant fabric.

All that said, Sinbad's kilt came out a dazzling bit of work. (I'm sure there was more than ONE martini poured into that project! )

w2f

[Freelancer]

Great job...congratulations!

[sydnie7]

Congrats on making it through The Book! The kilt looks great.

But you know, I never thought of blaming it on the fabric. . . yeah, that's the ticket. . . the fabric is uneven! Useful for a multitude of sewing sins!

[SteveB]

Star,
Congratulations on producing a fine garment that your son will enjoy "because my mom made it."
As a southpaw, I have become ambidextrous in the world of machining and mechanics. Very few large scale machines were designed with the lefty in mind, I too have developed some right handed capabilities other than the one inflicted on me as a young lad concerning the proper way to write. (Sister Steel Metre Stick). The training helped on the rare occasions that an injury took one out of service the other was trained and ready. Leftys do really have it better. I knit and crochet left handed, as well as do most of my hand stitching left handed. My machine sewing and patterning is almost always right handed. ( I rarely visit my sister, who has the only left handed machine that I know of.)
I am learning the pipes right handed from a fellow lefty.

Cheers

[Standard]

A job well done, guid on ya lassie. We can sure tell by the photos that Sinbad is well chuffed with his new kilt as rightly he should be. Thanks for sharing your photos and thoughts with us.

[Barb T]

Great job! I like the way the dark flashes to light when he moves.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

Beautiful job there, Star.
Where did you get the idea of using nylon straps?

...snip...

Thank you, Gary! And Bella loves her dog collar too.

Great job! I like the way the dark flashes to light when he moves.

I'm glad it worked out that way, I was hoping for that "flashing" effect and it turned out even more dramatic than I'd expected.

Not too "lawn chair" I hope?
Be well,

Star

[fluter]

Not too "lawn chair" I hope?

When the model is skinny and cylindrical, the lawn chair effect is negligible.