First Trad Kilt: an ongoing thread

[HeathBar]

Barb,

Thanks for the pics. That gives me a better idea of what it looks like. Great pics too, very well made.

[Barb T]

It _is_ much easier on the back than bending over a table, but, more importantly, having the fabric clamped under your leg gives you something to pull against so that you can avoid wobbly pleats. Makes it much easier to achieve a smooth taper and straight stripes.

I'll tell Dave you like the photos! He's a commercial photographer, and he really knows what he's doing.

Barb

[auld argonian]

I'd like to compliment and thank Alan for sharing the blow-by-blow description of his efforts and Barb for generously sharing part of her technique (and she's a Mac user!!!).

Nice thing about this group is the sharing in pursuit of a common goal: the preservtion and proliferation of the kilt.

best

AA

[Sherry]

This is a great thread for the forum.

Excellent pics, Barb. Thanks for sharing them.

Sherry

[KMacT]

There is another thread that shows where to purchase kilt straps and buckles. because anyone making their own traditional will need them, I thought I'd cross post it here:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=13988

Kevin

[Alan H]

FAntastic Barb. I owe this thread an update, but it's a small one, I just basted the over-apron, no great shakes. But tonight is my first pleat! I'll be doing it like this for SURE....

MANY thanks for the excellent pictures, they're very helpful. That Wallace tartan is sure gorgeous.

Thanks for the link to buying the buckles and straps, too, KMacT

[Barb T]

Ooh ooh! Let us know how your first pleat goes!

Cheers,

Barb

[Barb T]

Hi Alan..what's the word on your kilt progress?

Barb

[Alan H]

I sewed two pleats then looked at them closely and said NUH-uh.....and proceeded to rip them out. I might have time to re-do them this morning, though. I have GOT to buy some chalk. I'm faking it with really thin strips of masking tape.

I'm at a conference this afternoon through Wednesday, so I won't be able to work on it. However, I'll be kilted at the Gala Reception (at the Monterey Bay Aquarium) in my "budget dressy" kilt getup that I wrote about a while ago, so I'll post pics of that.

[Alan H]

But I can write up this.

I laid out the size of the over apron a couple of days ago. This is a fairly simple process, following Barbs instructions. I started at the right hand edge of the fabric and found a strong line in the pattern for my center line.

Here are my splits:

__________measurement____apron_______pleats____
waist ........41 inches.............21...............20
hips.......... 46 inches.............22...............24

The center line I picked is about 18 inches from the right edge of the fabric. It's actually a thin red line between two of the wide, dark lines in the tartan. Anyway, I marked the center line and marked the left hand and right hand edge of the over-apron, adding an extra inch to the right hand edge, as per Barb's instructions.

I came down 2 inches from the top of the kilt, straight, to make the waistband, and then flared out from there to the hip measurement. From that point I kept going out to the "selvedge" (such as it is) and there's now 1 3/4 inch A-Shape from the hip measurement to the bottom of the kilt. I'm a bit concerned that 1 3/4 inch per side is not enough...

Thoughts on that, anybody? For all practical purposes the front edges of the apron are straight lines from the bottom of the waistband to the selvedge. It just sort of worked out that way.

I found my center line by just folding the cloth in half. I chose the strong line that was to the left (by about 1/2 a sett) of the actual mid-point of the cloth. When I count back from my center line to the left edge of the apron I get 14 setts (or pseudo-setts, remember that this is a wierd tartan) , which is just right. I want a HONKIN deep first pleat under the left edge of the apron because I've had so much grief from all my previous kilts about the apron and the first pleat pulling forward. It looks like the dickens. NOT gonna happen, here!

Anyway, if you refer to posts up above, you'll see that I decided on 24 pleats in my kilt with a 1-inch reveal per pleat. That covers the 24 inches of my hip split, just right. So having 14 setts from the left edge of the apron to the center line is about right, as that will nicely accomodate the 12 pleats I'll be putting there.