Hair Canvas?

[CaseyB]

Barb T.'s book clearly states that the interfacing for a kilt has to be a woven interfacing. I am just curious as to why that is and how bad it would be to use stiff interfacing that I find at a local fabric store.

[Oddern]

A stiff and synthetic interfacing will give the kilt an uncomfortable waist that does not breathe very well. It will also be harder to mount. Most "normal" interfacing you buy in your local store are to be ironed to the fabric, and it does not work for a kilt. the hair canvas is unfortunately expensive and somewhat difficult to obtain, but is absolutely the best to use. It is easy to fit, soft yet strong enough to hold back the stretch in the kilt fabric.

[longhuntr74]

I think that one of the other problems with non-woven and fusible interfacing is that it will delaminate or disintegrate due to sweat, etc. I might be wrong...but in any case, I'd recommend following Barb's and Elsie's advice in TaOK.

I can't seem to find where Barb answered a question I had about sources for hair canvas...but she recommended this site: B. Black and Sons

She said she recommended heavy Hymo as an alternative to hair canvas. I bought some of the hymo...but also bought the hair cloth on this page: Interfacing Canvas

The hair cloth was slightly lighter weight than the heavy hymo, but it seemed to work well for me. I still have the hymo that I will use on my next kilt.

[Barb T]

The other reason is that woven interfacing has "give" because is is woven - in other words, it flexes on the bias just like the kilt fabric does. Woven interfacing gives the kilt body and flexibility at the same time.

[jgcunningham]

Well, the Heavy Hymo from B. Black is NOT expensive. I ordered 2 yards of it for $9.95/yard and shipping only added a few bucks. So I got my hands on 2 yards, a 72" by 72" piece, for about $25. That's enough to use on at least almost 6-7 kilts. That makes the cost of it around $4 a kilt. So how much would you spend on interfacing for just one kilt? About the same probably, but it won't quite do the job right. So click on the Hymo, add it to your cart, and have a mini-Jones while you wait for it to arrive.

[Barb T]

If anyone is figuring canvas amounts and is interested in how much I use, I typically use a 36x36 piece for one kilt. So a yard of 72" wide would do me for two kilts.

So that I don't have little scraps left over, I measure the depth of the piece that's needed for the pleats and cut two pieces that width. With all the pleating of the interfacing in the pleats, I use both pieces for the pleats. Then I split the remaining piece and use it for the apron and underapron. Works great, and doesn't waste interfacing.