Kilt

No - the pleats don't set properly if you put a hem om it. Length adjustments are made from the top.

But any pattern, whether paid or the weave of the fabric (and both are patterns) goes right to the edge of the fabric: there should be no difference in the weave at the selvedge. Solid colours are usually an Irish tradition, and the colours are more political than clan or family (like the wearing o' the green!)

Not so much a kilt as a mobile home! They adjusted length from the waist to suit what they were doing, and wrapped the wider bit left over round the torso, to suit the weather. At night it acted as a sort of 'bivvy bag'.

Not exactly 'modern'... the kilt almost as we see it today was established by the time the Highland chief's independent armies were incorporated in the the British Army, and common enough amongst civilian folk. Latter half of the 18th C, that. These days, if someone is making a 'kilt' for every day wear like this, a Scot like myself (who grew up with the garment adorning many of her civilian and military male relatives) would assume the national standard, adopted before Waterloo.

'Kilt' just meant fold or tuck originally, and in the old Tam Lin ballad, when Janet 'kilted' her skirt above the knee and hied across the hills to visit her elfin lover, all she did was grab the hem and stuff it through her belt in time honoured fashion, so as not to trip over it. I do the same in long skirts when visiting the loft to get stuff out of the stash. I do cheat: rather than a leather belt, I have an elastic waistband or a convenient knicker leg...

Yes... From about 1750. y'wanna try Velcro? ;P

Well yes, but anything else won't hold the pleats, (especially poly mixes), and won't hang properly, allowing the ingress of playful breezes and the exposure of the fambly jewels to the interested (don't frighten the horses!),

See above...

It might if you don't! ;) ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ &etc.. Cat on Keyboard error!

Mike, surely you've heard the traditional answer to the question, "what do you wear under that thing?" It's: "give me your hand, darlin', and I'll show you".

Courtesy of Diana Gabaldon, author of the Voyager series of novels.

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

Yup, also shoes and socks, the future od Scotland, on a good day lipstick, lots of good replies to that question

Just to pick one more nit, a plaid is a garment. The woven pattern with different colors is a tartan. ;-)

One thing you can be sure of, tartan in 13 oz wool ain't inexpensive. Goes anywhere from $55 to $70 per yard at 54 inch.

Yup, but then, you may be able to use it split down the center. Two 27" yards. the hand woven ones were on 27" looms, and that's what kilts were made of: hand loomed woolens.

Jean M.

Y'know I think it goes with the name. When I got my Mike to wear a kilt he said most of the same things. ;)

Just for fun, look at this site:

Not the kind of kilt you want, but they are nifty. Look for the page that talks about measuring. I think you would find some of that useful. And you might find some interesting ideas for your kilt too, or future kilts.

Just stay away from patent leather shoes...'k? ;)

Sharon

Utilikilts are pretty nice. Patrick Norton, one of the hosts on Tech TV show The Screensavers used to wear one on the show now and then until the producers requested he stop. For my first one I do want something more traditional though, but I expect to make one out of denim too for just beating around. The guys that are wearing them alot say the kilt is decidedly more comfortable than jeans and at my age I really don't care what other people think as long as I'm comfortable

Alot of it is between 54 and 56 wide. The usual procedure is to cut to length from each selvage edge and use the strip from the middle for the top binding. I think this is going to cost some cash, but should be a fun project :)

Shoes and socks.

Yup, you can tell by the dandruff on the shoes

Actually, most of the men I know wear Gold Bond Powder. Wool in summer is WARM!

Nice thing about a kilt, there's ventilation I found a source for the tartan I want though. 13 oz, 54 inches wide for $47 a yard. Looks like I'll be ordering 4 yards in the next couple weeks.

. They're located in Vallejo, California. About the best price I've found so far. I mentioned this project to my mother today. Her reaction kinda surprised me. She loves the idea and is looking forward to seeing it

You do what you like, Mike.

Half the men in the world wear skirts (sarongs, kilts) or dresses (djellabahs, dish-dashes, thobes, yukatas).

Personally, I'm all for comfort - and ventilation;)

:) Trish

Cool site. I think if they don't have it, you prolly don't need it. ;)

You do know you will have to put up pictures somewhere when you get the whole thing done. :) Then you can have Moms everywhere proud of your work. lol

Thanks for posting the site, I will have to pass it on to my MIL. My FIL (a McGuire) may be showing some shin before too long. :)

Sharon

It really is a good site and most of the stuff is as close to reasonable as I can find.It'll take a while for delivery on the tartan. They import it from Scotland I guess. I'm going to practice with some denim in the meantime so I have a good idea what I'm doing when the tartan gets here .

EWWWWWW!!!!!!!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

HEY!!!!! I'm spitting distance from there (They are just barely far away from me enough that I have to pay a few pennies a minute to call there.) Thanks for hte link -- I'm going to go check them out and see if I can go visit sometime or if they are just mail order (sighs dreaming of fondling wonderful wool tartan fabrics and maybe even catching an in-store clearance sale....ahhhhh....)

You're welcome. Let us know what the place is like :)