At Long, lo-o-o-o-ong, long...did I say "long"..last

**Alan H** · 4th October 12, 11:30 AM

I cut out the pleat/fell reinforcing canvas today. I finished the edges and put in the darts so that it curves to fit the inside of the pleats. I also cut out and machine-stitched/installed the load-bearing strap that I put in under the waistband, all the way around the kilt. This is my own thing, it's not in Barb and Elsie's book. It's doubled-over 6 ounce cotton/polyester and I stitch the buckle straps and leather straps into it so there's a continuous load-bearing strap around the wearers waist. The tartan takes no buckling load, at all.

Next up is hand-sewing in the fell reinforcing canvas. Once that's done, the thing is going to really start feeling like a kilt!

**Aspiringloser** · 4th October 12, 04:44 PM

The stabilizer from apron edge to underapron edge sounds like a great idea. I may have to give that a shot on one of my upcoming projects.

**Alan H** · 5th October 12, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Aspiringloser

The stabilizer from apron edge to underapron edge sounds like a great idea. I may have to give that a shot on one of my upcoming projects.

How to do it is outlined in Barb and Elsie's book....highly recommended.

I only do this when I make "8 yard" wool kilts. If you cut out the pleats in the fell to reduce the wad of material there, then you MUST put in steeking and the reinforcing strip/stabilizer. If you don't, you risk the whole thing falling apart under stress.

Six yard kilts...and especially 6 yard kilts made from wool/poly blend, which is usually 11 ounce fabric...or made from Polyester-viscose...well, I don't cut out the pleats on those. Ditto for 5-yard kilts, though I essentially never make an actual "Five yard" kilt. A six yard kilt made from PV, with machine-sewn pleats is strong enough IMHO to do just fine without the reinforcing strip.

I started reinforcing the waistband when I started making kilts specifically for Highland Athletes. A lot of these guys like to buckle the kilt really tight. I figured that a reinforcing strap would be a good idea. Since I only put two buckles on those.....no buckle on the right hip, just one at the waistband and one inside the waistband on the left, the load on the buckles/straps can be pretty substantial. Now, have the guy wearing the kilt go through some hellacious violent contortions to throw a hammer and you'll see why I do this.

IN FACT, on the next athletes kilt I make, I might experiment with riveting the leather and inside buckle strap to the kilt.

**Aspiringloser** · 5th October 12, 06:54 PM

Maybe I read this wrong. Are you talking about the stabilizer at the waistline across the pleats after you cut them out or are you saying you make a stabilizer that runs the entire length of the kilt? I don't recall reading about this in The Art of Kiltmaking. Perhaps it's time to read it again.

**Alan H** · 7th October 12, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by Aspiringloser

Maybe I read this wrong. Are you talking about the stabilizer at the waistline across the pleats after you cut them out or are you saying you make a stabilizer that runs the entire length of the kilt? I don't recall reading about this in The Art of Kiltmaking. Perhaps it's time to read it again.

The stabilizer that supports the pleats when you cut them out.....

I'm putting that into this kilt. Why? Because I've cut out the pleats. However on a 6-yard kilt, especially if it's made from 11 ounce wool/poly blend or polyester-viscose, I don't cut out the pleats and so no stabilizer strip is necessary.

What I put into my athletic kilts, and have also added to this one is a feature which is not covered in The Art of Kiltmaking. It's a load-bearing strip of cloth that sits directly beneath the waistband...not down by the fell, but right under the waistband. Yes, it goes the entire length of the kilt. I sew the upper buckle and straps into the strap so that no buckling load is taken by the tartan.

But my kilts don't normally have two buckles/straps on the right hip.

**Aspiringloser** · 7th October 12, 04:36 PM

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for clarifying. I didn't recall seeing anything about that in the book.

**Alan H** · 10th October 12, 11:15 AM

It's been a few days but I got a little bit done. I finished off the edges of the pleat stabilizing strap...just a couple rows of zigzag so it doesn't unravel. Then I did about half of the first row (there will be three rows) of stitching the stabilizer to the inside of the pleats, in the fell. It wasn't much but it was SOMETHING and something is better than nothing.

**sydnie7** · 10th October 12, 11:37 AM

Words vs. pictures. . . still confused by your description of this extra stabilizing strip. TAoK instructs a stabilizer from buckle to buckle (or, if you do the inner buckle a la Mr. Newsome, it's right-buckle-to-left-strap -- basically hip to hip across the back, however you fasten it). Are you saying that you install something in addition to this? You say "entire length of the kilt" which implies both aprons? Hmmmm. . .

**Alan H** · 10th October 12, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by sydnie7

Words vs. pictures. . . still confused by your description of this extra stabilizing strip. TAoK instructs a stabilizer from buckle to buckle (or, if you do the inner buckle a la Mr. Newsome, it's right-buckle-to-left-strap -- basically hip to hip across the back, however you fasten it). Are you saying that you install something in addition to this? You say "entire length of the kilt" which implies both aprons? Hmmmm. . .

OK, think about the tartan waistband that you fold over and stitch on, covering the raw edge of both the aprons and the pleats. That goes from one end of the kilt to the other, right? OK, this strap that I put on lies directly underneath that, on the inside where it isn't seen. It goes completely from one end to the other...from the edge of the over apron, all the way across the over-apron...over the pleats, over the under-apron to the far edge of the under-apron.

And yes, this is in addition to the usual "pleat stabilizing strip" as per the Art of Kiltmaking.

**sydnie7** · 10th October 12, 12:50 PM

Inside the waistband itself, hidden by the fold, or "underneath" as in "closer to the hem"? Sorry to be so dense. . . are you fastening it to the hair canvas only, like TAoK's stabilizer? Otherwise of course stitching would show as you go across single-thickness portion of aprons.

I can see having another stabilizer where the straps attach to aprons, but that would be at same depth (i.e. same vertical position as TAoK's strip) in order to catch all buckle and strap attachment points. Yours sounds as if it sits higher than the buckle/strap attachment latitude.

Or else my mind's eye is as nearsighted as my for-real orbs LOL