Kilt 6 inches to big.

[Hiram]

Hi everyone,

I have an alteration question and i'm hoping some of our resident kilt makers can answer.

I was just given a kilt by my pipe band. The inner apron from what i can tell is about 1.5 - 2 inches to big, the funny thing though is that the outer apron seems to be at least 6 inches too big.

Does this mean that a simple buckle movement fix can be done or will I need a complete reconstruction of the kilt ?

[sydnie7]

A simple buckle movement should do it. There's a thread here in which Barb T shows a band kilt that she made some 12 inches smaller (if I remember correctly) through buckles only.

It's going larger that's the challenge!

[tundramanq]

At some point the aprons need to be narrowed also or be rediculously wide.

[Mikilt]

I once inquired about taking a kilt with a 51" waist down to a 46". I was told that if I did, the pleats would stretch around to the front and I was better off selling my kilt and getting a new one that fits. YMMV.

~M

[sydnie7]

Here's Barb's thread on moving buckles 10.5 inches on a band kilt. She points out that this is dependent on the overall proportions, i.e. how big was the kilt to begin with? But it can be done, Barb says it so I believe it!

LINK

[O'Callaghan]

I have a kilt that was the next size up from what I ordered, plus the buckles are falling off anyway (they were coming adrift right from the start). The vendor, who shall now remain nameless, replaced it with another kilt of a better quality in the right size, albeit in a tartan I had not requested, but I still also have the original kilt they sent me. I am seriously considering moving the buckles to take it down a size before they actually fall off, LOL! I guess I need to read this article too.

[Ryan Ross]

I had a kilt taken down by some 14 inches, and to look at it now, you'd never guess it was the product of alteration. It can most certainly be done, but I would only trust the most seasoned of kilt makers with the job. Matt, Barb, etc...

[Paul Henry]

It's completely possible to alter just about any kilt, moving the buckles is simple and fairly quick, but normally best for a few inches only, a lot more than that would involve working on the apron and or pleats. There isn't a difficulty there , except for the time factor as it most likely means quite a lot of unpicking and resewing, and that actually means quite a lot of time, and consequently money. But it might actually mean that the kilt needs to reworked as the waist and hip ratios will be different and if that is the case and you want a well fitting kilt , it really would be much more cost efficent to start from scratch. If the kilt was a gift and you have a free hand in what happens it then it might be worth finding someone to alter it, and any decent kiltmaker should be able to manage it, but don't expect the work to be cheap!

[Pleater]

I once inquired about taking a kilt with a 51" waist down to a 46". I was told that if I did, the pleats would stretch around to the front and I was better off selling my kilt and getting a new one that fits. YMMV.

~M

Remember that the pleats on the right vanish under the apron, so when reducing 51 to 46 inches by moving the buckles you don't get 2 and 1/2 inches more pleat showing each side, the difference is half that, just over an inch, hardly something which would be noticed in passing.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Barb T]

If we're talking about remaking the kilt to make it a lot smaller, you can't just unstitch pleats and remake the kilt, because, if the pleats are cut out, you can't just use the fabric from a former pleat to be part of the new apron. It would require cutting the tartan to remove a chunk and then putting a hidden seam in. Big job. Better to sell it and buy a new one that really fits.