Revitalizing my first kilt

[A Hay]

My first kilt was bought in 2004 in Virginia from the notorious Clansman vendor. (Newbies can look up the tales of woe from the time around 2006-2008). This was before I knew about X Marks the Scot.
I was at the Virginia Highland Games and bought the package of a kilt, gillie shirt, belt, sporran, kilt hose, and sword. I was told it would take about 16 weeks which eventually turned into about 32 weeks!

Anyway, the kilt arrived. It was in the Hay Tartan and it fit well. The vendor and the kiltmaker (anonymous in Scotland, I believe) seemed to have produced an acceptable product.
I have worn the kilt on many occasions. After I retired 2 years ago, I lost some weight and about 2 inches around my waist and I began to find the kilt would not stay up. The straps were tightened to the last hole.
However, the good folks here on X Marks the Scot had spoken about how easy it was to move the buckles so I thought I would give that a try.
As I was looking the kilt over, I found a problem with the under apron strap. You can see in the next photo where it has pulled the line of the sett out to the right.


Looking at it from the inside, I found an interfacing, but it was torn. The interfacing was not sewn to the apron or the lining except at the strap, a small rectangle about 1 inch by 1/2 inch. There was no stabilizer as I understand there should be, only this interfacing.


Well, I went to the local Joann Fabric center and bought some new interfacing and inserted it between the apron and the lining and stitched it down for securely as shown in this next photo


As you can see from the last picture, it straightened out the pulling on the under apron and I think it is now secure.
URL=http://s90.photobucket.com/user/A_Hay/media/DSC01669_zps5fa4dfd5.jpg.html][/URL]

From there I reattached the under apron buckle with stronger reinforced boxed-X stitching about 2 inches to the left of where it was before.
I then moved the two right hip buckles about 2 inches further back on the kilt. It now fits me well and I think will last a long time. I removed the sporran straps from the back because they were off-center as well.

I'm not a skilled sewer, either by hand or machine, but the whole job was finished in about 3 hours on a rainy afternoon. It was time well spent to restore a kilt that was too large to a usable condition.
I'm not worried about the stitching showing on the under apron or even on the relocated buckles. I don't plan on selling this kilt. I've told my wife and son to bury me in it. (The son has his own Hay kilt)

So for those out there who have lost a little, you might want to give this method of relocating your buckles a try. It turned out better than I thought. I'm now going to try it on some other kilts that are a little large.

Thanks to the folks who suggested this.

Tom

[ASinclair]

Nicely done, Tom!

[Grizzly]

I am metaphorically doffing my hat to you Tom. That is great work.

[Kilted Cole]

Well done indeed! Good on ya!

[OC Richard]

I can identify, because my weight has fluctuated quite a bit over the last 20 years (lose 50 pounds on a diet, slowly gain half of it back, and so forth...) and moving straps and buckles has had to become a way of life.

In fact I just had to do the same thing, move the underapron strap inward a couple inches, this week!

You're bang-on, there should be sturdy un-stretchable canvas under the cotton lining all the way round so that the wool isn't taking the stress, the pull, from the straps and buckles. (Hey, I didn't know "un-stretchable" was a word, but it went uncommented upon by my computer's spell-check!)

The problems which arise when this down-sizing is done, as you've mentioned, are
1) the sporran loops now aren't centred
2) if the kilt is pleated to the sett, the sett is now not centred
3) the fringe side of the upper-apron is now overlapping a couple pleats
4) you now have a flap of extra fabric on the edge of the under-apron

Numbers 1 and 2 don't happen with my kilts because they're pleated to the line and don't have sporran loops.

Number 4 can be dealt with by re-sewing that end of the kilt, not all that huge of a project, if that flap starts getting annoying.

I suppose it's not an ideal situation but it's much less expensive than buying a new kilt!

BTW I don't do any machine sewing, so I punch a number of small holes in the straps and hand-sew them in place.

It's kinda cool that you HAVE your first kilt! I have no idea where mine might be, if anywhere. It was made by my Grandmother from plaid wool I got at an ordinary fabric shop (non-tartan, but tartanlike) around 1975. We didn't have anything to go on besides photos... neither of us had ever examined a kilt in person.

[A Hay]

I can identify, because my weight has fluctuated quite a bit over the last 20 years (lose 50 pounds on a diet, slowly gain half of it back, and so forth...) and moving straps and buckles has had to become a way of life.

In fact I just had to do the same thing, move the underapron strap inward a couple inches, this week!

You're bang-on, there should be sturdy un-stretchable canvas under the cotton lining all the way round so that the wool isn't taking the stress, the pull, from the straps and buckles. (Hey, I didn't know "un-stretchable" was a word, but it went uncommented upon by my computer's spell-check!)

The problems which arise when this down-sizing is done, as you've mentioned, are
1) the sporran loops now aren't centred
2) if the kilt is pleated to the sett, the sett is now not centred
3) the fringe side of the upper-apron is now overlapping a couple pleats
4) you now have a flap of extra fabric on the edge of the under-apron

Numbers 1 and 2 don't happen with my kilts because they're pleated to the line and don't have sporran loops.

Number 4 can be dealt with by re-sewing that end of the kilt, not all that huge of a project, if that flap starts getting annoying.

I suppose it's not an ideal situation but it's much less expensive than buying a new kilt!

BTW I don't do any machine sewing, so I punch a number of small holes in the straps and hand-sew them in place.

It's kinda cool that you HAVE your first kilt! I have no idea where mine might be, if anywhere. It was made by my Grandmother from plaid wool I got at an ordinary fabric shop (non-tartan, but tartanlike) around 1975. We didn't have anything to go on besides photos... neither of us had ever examined a kilt in person.

Thanks OCRichard for your additional comments.
There are some consequences to moving the buckles, as you mentioned. I don't think the casual observer will notice the overlap on the right hip too often however, so I am willing to accept that.
I prefer having the sporran loops on the back, but I can live without them. Just have to remember to check the sporran strap more often to ensure it does not slip down low or ride up over the kilt in the back.
I had to do some hand sewing but my wife got a new sewing machine and I got to use it for some of the stitching. The kilt straps were light enough in weight that the machine had little trouble going through the strap.
I've done one more kilt so far, and have about 2 more to go.

Regards,

Tom

[Jon Lilley]

Great work, Tom!

You've saved your kilt from the dust bin or worse! You've done what we all need to do from time to time to extend the 'life' of our kilts. It's not impossible, but does require a bit of time. And in my humble opinion, that's time well spent. The next step is to take a class to learn to make them and understand what comes next. It's not difficult, (but it's a lot of work).

Great job!,

Jon

[OC Richard]

The next step is to take a class to learn to make them and understand what comes next. It's not difficult, (but it's a lot of work).

That very thing has been on my "bucket list" since my grandmother made my first kilt for me c1975. Finally, a year ago, I did it! I took Elsie Stuehmeyer's kiltmaking class... what a fantastic experience.

[Jon Lilley]

It's a real eye-opener, right? Kiltmaking was on my bucket list, too . . . but for only about 8 years, tho. A few years ago I was faced with having to buy 2 band kilts at the same time (ouch!) and decided that I'd do better in the long run if I learned how to make them myself. I bought Barb & Elsie's book and read through it a number of times, just not understanding it all. I don't sew in the seamstress sense so I wasn't sure what some of it meant. I decided to take the plunge and went up to the Braemar school in Troy, NY and learned from a Judy Sullivan. She's one very talented lady and everything all makes sense now, amazingly enough. I think it's possibly one of the best decisions I've ever made!

This past June, I had the opportunity to study with Barb, also a great experience, but I still haven't met Elsie. Well, if she ever comes east to teach again, I'll be first in line to take her class.

Slàinte,

Jon