My Xmarks tartan kilt

[LitTrog]

What, no acronym or clever nickname? Where's the love in that? ;-)

Fybop!

Takes me back to the 90's and that horrible "Mmmbop" song. Only this doesn't make me pray for a second lobotomy.

Dig the fringe, impressed again with your skill. Now, about your sweetie-pie's too-short mini...still waiting on that one.

[NeightRG]

I can see it from here. Ya wake and set up. Stretch and yawn real big. Then ya rub the crust out of your eyes, take a look around and say, "Meh. What the hell. Think I'll knock out a kilt today. Then I'll have coffee." 'Nother day in the life, huh, bud?

Except for the "Then I'll have coffee" part, that's actually very accurate. I've gotten to where I can put one together in one day off.

Fybop!
Takes me back to the 90's and that horrible "Mmmbop" song. Only this doesn't make me pray for a second lobotomy.
Dig the fringe, impressed again with your skill. Now, about your sweetie-pie's too-short mini...still waiting on that one.

Fybop... Light and fun, just like the kilts. I could get behind that. And the mini kilt is coming. She's not sure which tartan she wants yet.

After a few days of wearing it, I've decided that I'm in love with the self colored fringe. Whenever I have suitable fringe fabric, I'll probably be doing something like that on all of my kilts. Unless it's a commission, and it's not wanted.

[NeightRG]

That's looks great! Now I'm psych'd to try my hand at a tartan XKilt. So, yes, please do post the "stitch from behind" pleats instructions (photos would help a lot, too). BTW, I've been leery of making an XKilt using a patterned fabric such as a tartan. How difficult was it? Any tips regarding that?

It's actually not an XKilt. I've thought of adapting those instructions to make a tartan kilt, but ended up coming up with my own machine sewing methods to make a more traditional looking kilt.

[Aspiringloser]

I can see it from here. Ya wake and set up. Stretch and yawn real big. Then ya rub the crust out of your eyes, take a look around and say, "Meh. What the hell. Think I'll knock out a kilt today. Then I'll have coffee." 'Nother day in the life, huh, bud?

I was thinking that too. What do I want to do today? Let's see, I think I'll start and finish a kilt that doesn't look as if it were made in one day. Yeah, that's the ticket! Then I'll have the rest of the evening to do something that doesn't require any skill.

I bow to your greatness NeightRG

[xman]

That self coloured fringe is really growing on me.

[vorpallemur]

It's actually not an XKilt. I've thought of adapting those instructions to make a tartan kilt, but ended up coming up with my own machine
sewing methods to make a more traditional looking kilt.

Nice kilt, mate.

A tutorial, or just some description or in-progress photos would be nice. I think I have an idea about what you're doing, but I'm not sure.

[NeightRG]

A tutorial, or just some description or in-progress photos would be nice. I think I have an idea about what you're doing, but I'm not sure.

It's in the works. Next week, I'm hoping to make two kilts - one for a friend who's here on Xmarks, and another for myself, in some 1950s Armstrong or MacFarlane tartan.
Planning to take photos and draw up some diagrams, but the basic idea is that instead of forming the boxes and top stitching them in place, I treat the pleats more like really big darts, stitch them from behind, press them into shape, and then tack them in place along the top edge. From there it's pretty much business as usual.

[Aspiringloser]

Did it take trial and error to get the edges stitched exactly where you want them since you're actually sewing from the back side? Seems like you'd have to rip stitches several times until you get the edges exactly where you want them.

[NeightRG]

Did it take trial and error to get the edges stitched exactly where you want them since you're actually sewing from the back side? Seems like you'd have to rip stitches several times until you get the edges exactly where you want them.

Haven't had to rip one seam this way. There were a couple of boo-boos on the test run that I made on a narrow scrap of fabric, but the technique came together very quickly.

Three of the edges on this kilt are misaligned - two by two threads, one by three - not even two millimeters off. When I'm pinning the pleats, I put the pins on bigger identifying points on the tartan - in this case, the middle of the yellow stripe, and on the edge of the thick white strips - and check that they line up on both sides of the pleat. As long as the pins are in there, the fabric really can't move out of place.

[Alan H]

Nice job, that looks excellent.