More progress on the kilt

Get out the Glenlivet and some glasses to be ready for the celebration.

Gag, I can't stand whiskey. I know it's heresy, but I prefer Ecco Domani Merlot.

Still have some 2001 left that I bought for the wedding. ;-)I just discovered that the twill tape I bought to stabilize the waistline is *polyester*!!! &^$@&# I'm off to Fabric Depot to see if they have 100% cotton twill tape. Beverly

You are really flying on this one!! Can't wait to see it. Hope you can get the cotton twill tape. That's getting kind of hard to find out here. :( The poly crap is everywhere. It just does not work as well or last as long. Keeping a good thought......

Let me know when you're ready for the glass of merlot. I'll pour a glass of white merlot right along with you. ;) With the time difference, you could have yours after supper and I could have mine at bedtime. lol

Sharon

Yet more progress (and I do realize most of you will never make a kilt, so you won't really understand all of this):

This morning, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I was all ready to cut the fabric from the wrong side of the pleats (but only at the top), so I took my trusty pinking shears in hand and had at it.

But...

I discovered I had left the "buttonhole" opening for the under-apron strap in the *first* pleat from the top-apron edge rather then the second pleat, where it belongs. Luckily, I figured it out as I was cutting the excess fabric from the pleats, but *before* I cut the wrong one. WHEW!!! So I unpicked the 1.25" opening at the waist on pleat number two, and stitched shut the opening on pleat number one.

I found the 1.5" cotton twill at the Mill End Store today, so I have stabilized the back waist using the twill and buttonhole thread. Then I applied the hair canvas to the upper edge of both the under apron and the top apron and basted it in place, cut the piece of hair canvas for the pleat area and pin-basted it in place.

I'm taking pictures as I go.

Beverly, taking a break, I'll go at it fresh after dinner.

I bought some tan 1" twill tape last night, but really wanted white 1.375" or 1.5", so I made a mad dash to the other large fabric store near me, and THEY HAD IT!!! Yay!

Or I could have mine with lunch...

;-}

Beverly

It's time to pick up any cotton twill tape you see in thrift shops. I have a big box of rayon seam binding I've gotten that way. All the new stuff is polyester, and most of it is "iron-on." I had a friend who used the old rayon tape for an inexpensive alternative for "silk" flowers in her crazy quilting, and once I started buying the stuff, I couldn't quit! They don't make it anymore!

Amazingly enough, The Mill End Store had several shelves, filled with 100% cotton twill in a dozen or so colors and in widths from 3/8" up to 2" in 1/8 inch increments. There must have been 70 or 80 reels of the stuff. I am very grateful to have a *real* fabric store nearby. Fabric Depot had a much smaller selection of cotton twill tape and the only white or tan were either 1" or 2" wide.

I love the idea of repurposing rayon seam binding. ;-) Do you have an idea for cards and cards of the lace seam binding/hem binding from the 60s-70s???

Beverly, who really must reduce the stash somehow...

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! A break is good!

Otherwise, it looks like all is going well.

Just a quick question: why are yo cutting the fabric out of the back of the pleats? Not the traditional way to do this, according to the kiltmaker I had a swift tutorial from In Edinburgh many years ago, and not what was done to a great uncle's WW I Black Watch kilt, which later had a bullet hole darned before being unpicked and cut in half, joined up the middle, and used as a car rug for 40 years by my grandparents! (The hole was the closest the great uncle came to being wounded: one of a very few very lucky ones... )

No criticism intended: just curious... I'm thinking that because this is a dance kilt, it may be due to keeping her cooler.

Yes it was! I was able to get lots done last night.

Yup. Just returned from lunch with DD, so I'll get back to it.

None taken. ;-) I suspect the cutting of the hip pleats evolved for dancers into something a little more comfortable and less heavy/hot. By the time one pleats-to-the-sett, and tapers from the hip to the waist, there are at a minimum,

*eight layers* of tartan at the waist. Not only hot, but very bulky. Our dancers are almost never dancing outside in the cold winds of the moors of Northumberland. Much more likely to be dancing in heated indoor venues or outside at Highland Games in July when the temps reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

My textbook for making kilts (this is my second one) is "The Art of Kiltmaking":

"Kiltmaker and award-winning educator Barbara Tewksbury has teamed up with legendary kiltmaker Elsie Stuehmeyer to bring you a book that teaches the traditional kiltmaking methods that Elsie learned 50 years ago as an apprentice and kiltmaker with the renowned firm Thomas Gordon's of Glasgow."If you could see a close-up of that cover illustration, you could see the cut pleats, steeking, waist stay, tailor's basting, as well as the strap buttonhole. That's how my kilt looks at the moment. I figure Stuehmeyer knows her stuff, and the local Scotswoman who mentored me through the first one used identical methods. She makes the kilts for many of the local Highland dancers.

Beverly

There are more ways of skinning a cat... :)

The gent I was taking a sneaky lesson from generally made army uniform kilts. Many 'day wear' kilts were in 16oz tartan, and for men. His view was that taking the excess out of the back weakened the weave, and these things got plenty of wear! They get dragged through all sorts, from Highland Games type events to parades in horizontal sleet... Dress tartan is much lighter (10oz, typically), and light enough that (on a fella at least!) there was no need to cut the back out of the pleats.

After the excess is cut from the pleats (from one inch above the bottom of the fell to the waist), the waistline is stabilized with 1.25 to 1.5 inch cotton twill tape, sewn in X stitches every inch or so top and bottom. Then the entire upper pleat area is re-enforced with hair canvas, darted to follow the curve from hip-to-waist, and stitched with buttonhole thread in multiple (at least 4, often 7) rows of tailor's stitches. And the entire top (pleats and aprons) is then lined with Kona cotton, which further protects the underside of the pleats. Trust me, these kilts also come in for a lot of fairly rough handling, they are hauled from place to place, danced in vigorously, and probably tossed on the floor more often then not.

Beverly