I've been sewing for 60+ years, and I never came across "steeking". I'm doing research for my first honest-to-god kilt, and the book "The Art of Kiltmaking" (Tewksbury/Stuehmeyer) has a whole section on proper 'steeking'. No, not stinking, I know about that!
I'm so glad I didn't die before I learned this! ;-) Along with all the other arcane techniques for making a genuine kilt.
First prize goes to the first person who replies with a correct definition of *sewing* (not knitting) "steeking".
Isn't is when the inside fold of the pleat is stitched down to keep them hanging nice and straight? I've never made a kilt, but I hang out with some kiltmakers at faires.
That's pretty much it, I've made more kilts than I want to count. "steek" means to close or shut.
The reason for steeking in a traditional kilt is because the kilt maker has to cut out an awful lot of excess material generated by all those pleats; below the hip line all that fabric makes for great "swishing", but above the hip line it causes bulkiness, weight, and insulation.
With the pleat material cut out above the hip line, the pleats below have nothing to "hang from", so the steeking stitches create a hidden, stabilized place for the pleats to hang from in a nice, neat, vertical fashion.
Often, casual kilts with fewer, wider pleats do not have the material cut out. The pleats stabilize themselves from above the hip line and don't need the steeking.
I've never seen a properly made kilt with the fabric cut out behind the steeking. If you cut it away, you weaken the fabric and the whole construction. Properly pressed and stitched, the pleats are not all that bulky, as the fabric is hammered flat. If you unpick a guardman's kilt, you get a single whole length of cloth with the selvege complete on both edges.
I am awestricken at the mass of steps and techniques for completing a real kilt. The kilted skirts I made in high school in the 50s weren't even close.
I'm guessing this will be a bout a 50-hour project. Good thing the recipient carries my DNA. ;-}
I would think the cloth would have to be custom loomed in order to make it the right width for a kilt, without sacrificing *one* of the selvedges. My research so far says a kilt should fit a man just at the top of the kneecap. Or clear the floor by 1" when the man kneels. And that they are supposed to extend about 2" above the belt. And since men come in many heights, I don't see how a kilt could be made with both selvedges intact. But perhaps they just hitch them up with suspenders if they are too long... ???
A man could probably carry all that weight and bulk at the waist and hip without much difficulty. For a young girl dancer, however, I think cutting out the excess will be necessary. I have yet to peek inside the borrowed kilt (made in Scotland) DGD is using, but I hope to get my hands on it soon.
That's pretty much how it's explained in several kiltmaking books I have. You get second prize (based on the time stamps).
I hope to make a utilikilt for my son-in-law. I doubt very much I'll do all the interlining/lining/hand stitching I'm planning for DGD's kilt. So his won't need "steeking". ;-)
No need, only first prize was offered and, as you have seen by the carefully checked time stamp, I had no intention of "competing", I didn't directly respond to your question as you can tell by the formation of the posted thread but only added a bit to WZ's prompt answer.
The kilts I have built were mostly for men who were competing in Highland games. I did line the upper part of the garment where steeking was used for two reasons......#1 it gives the wear and tear of a hard used (athletic competitions) kilt a longer life and #2 if done properly you can remove the lining from the interlining and wash it since that happens to be snug against the body ( perspiration and grime :-p) and not have the entire kilt cleaned as much. I got the lining, a soft but heavy cotton canvas sort of weave, in Vancouver BC were I took a 5 day kilt construction class/seminar. According to one kilt historian who spoke to our class steeking was starting to be used at about the same time as the Black Watch was being formed and used for making the troops' kilts. They wanted more fabric for protection and warmth but the snug fit around the hips for more sharply tailored military fit look.....after all, they were THE military, not mere conscripted peasant thugs and clan militia.
That was a fascinating class, not only did we learn relatively modern (anything after the early mid 1700's) construction but ancient construction of fabric, fashion and kilt as well. Tartan history, the whys how's and where fore's. Made wonderful friends had fabulous instructors and speakers, it was a great week. I'm glad I went.
What does a Scot wear under his kilt? If you're a proper lady you don't need to know, if you aren't you already do ;))
I called several of the people I took that class with and two of them have extensive collections of Heather patterns, did you ever find the ones you were looking for?
I always thought the question was "What is worn under a Scotsman's kilt?" Where "worn" could be read with either of its meanings, the answer being the same whichever meaning you used!
Gods, no! The fabric comes in a standard width, and is folded down from the top. It *is* bulkier than a standard pleat skirt waistband, but not enough to be uncomfortable in use.
For kids the fabric is very often cut down from a wider length as you cannot hem up the bottom if it is to swing correctly. But kids kilts are also often made of lighter cloth, so the bulk of the pleating is less too. The kilts my cousins all wore for Scouts were made properly, and as they grew taller my aunt let them down from the top. The ones my grandmother made for my sister and I as kids were also made in exactly the same way. She intended them as winter skirts so they started their careers with cotton bodices on the top that were hidden under our jumpers. These Ma unpicked as we grew taller and changed shape to include a bit of a waist to hold the things up! I also remember mum letting them down from the top. Granny had cut the two tiny kilts from a single width of cloth and over sewn the raw edge by hand with silk thread before setting all the pleats and sewing them down on her granny's old treadle! Apparantly, to get the pleats to lie flat properly, she laid them out on an old blanket on her deal kitchen table, and Pop (my grandfather) was employed to hammer them all down with a goodly lump of off-cut from a joist! :D :D God alone knows what the poor folk in the flat under them thought of this operation! They lived in the top half of one of those granite mansions you see in Scotland that got too large for most modern families and were often split in two.
Granny also had an old car rug made from one of her brothers' kilts from The Great War (Granny was born in 1901). You could still see the faint lines on it from the pleating, when I remember it in the early 60's. It had a careful round patch in one corner. Family tradition says it was a bullet hole, but I wouldn't swear to it. We liked that old rug far better than the thicker 'proper' car rug, as it was smoother to sit on.
That old plaid stayed in the car until Pop stopped driving, and the last time I saw it was on my bed when I lived with Granny the summer before I went off to college in 1975.
ON highland weekend at the faire, I tie a mirror to one of my shoes....
------------------------------------------------------ Wendy Z Chicago, IL (Moo) Wench Wear Costumes
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"Though she be but little, she is fierce""It's the little ones you have to watch out for...""I'm not short - I'm concentrated"--------------------------------------------------------
No, I haven't located any so far. All the online sites which list them are out. DGD's dance instructor has a friend who has made dance outfits for her students in the past, and she (the friend) has promised to search her stash for me. But I haven't heard back from her yet.
If any of your contacts would be willing to sell or share a Heather Highland jacket/vest Aboyne/vest pattern for a size
You are absolutely correct! I was having a sleepless night and was typing that post at 3 a.m. and I obviously didn't say that correctly, as I see now. :)
For me, there are a million things that I have forgotten, and sometimes I see, hear or smell something that triggers a long-lost memory. Certain aromas/odors are especially evocative of memory, and often a song will strike a chord.
When my kids were small, if one would remember something in detail, I would remark on it -- and my husband would kindly point out that at that age, there is so little to remember that it's not really so amazing. I can now elect to use the reverse of that - after three score and eight, I have a good excuse for a poor memory. ;-)
BBC in America is kind enough to broadcast a variety of shows, much to my enjoyment. On an episode of The Thin Blue Line, Rowan Atkinson said that it was no wonder Scots were so tough - what would you expect from men who lived in a country with waist-high thistles and wore kilts. Probably not original, and certainly was a long time ago as the show ended in 1996, but it made me laugh out loud anyway.
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