Wedding #1, the recap

I realize that I never really wrapped up the kilt project(s). It all got a little overwhelming. Rather than blab on and on about the whole endeavor, I think I'll just let the wedding photographer's blog post illustrate what an extraordinary event two amazing young people, and their loving families, created on a farm in Maine.

 

http://iamsarahv.com/blog/weddings/william-allen-farm-maine-wedding-photographers-fall/

 

Having my son ask me to make a kilt (and the whole nine yards) was a huge honor. We're talking real once in a lifetime stuff. If there's anything my sewing journey has taught me, it's that there's value in the "realness" of the clothes that we create. Yes, there may be little mistakes here and there, something that could have turned out better, but in the end what we make is honest. And all those threads....not only the physical ones that are holding things together, but the emotional, spiritual, loving threads we spin, simply can't be had "off the rack".

 

Credits

Tartan fabric, Strathmore 11.5 oz, "Dress MacLeod". -- Irish Traditions, Annapolis, MD

Wool suiting and linings. -- AK Fabrics, NYC

Tuxedo satin and tailoring supplies. -- B Black and Sons

Pewter Prince Charlie buttons. -- Three Feathers Pewter , Millersburg, OH

Custom dress sporran. -- Artisans of Scotland

Kilt hose, Clan kilt pin and brooch. -- USA Kilts

 

 

One final twirl!

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Pleat On!

 

 

 

I think the scariest part about making a kilt is that it's just based on 3 measurements that someone else has taken. You have to give up every shred of control and place your faith in someone that you hope is taking the job seriously. That's hard for a control freak like me. I had my son, who has NO sewing experience whatsoever, measure me. Then, unbeknownst to him, I had my very OCD friend David do it. If you've got that kind of friend in your life I highly recommend it, purely for the peace of mind! In the end their measurements were almost identical. David gave me an extra 1/2" of length, and I'm taking it. I'd rather have a little extra length than end up with a plaid miniskirt.

 

So that's it....no pattern, no muslin, no dry run. Three measurements.

 

 

 

The book I'm using is unapologetically traditional in its methods. Everything is marked with chalk. That might be fine for an experienced kilt maker, but I found myself handling my fabric so much that my marks were quickly wiped away. As a result I misplaced my first pleat! Not a great start. So I resorted to more reliable techniques. I remarked all the pleat spacing with Wonder Clips and triple checked myself. (Any mistake is almost unfixable). Then I popped in a tailor tack at each clip. No more lost chalk marks. I also thread traced the edges of the overlapping fronts (the "aprons" in kilt speak).

 

You can see a few of the clips in the above picture. This is 5 yards of fabric that's perpetually sliding back and forth on the table.

 

 

 

 

 

My kilt will have 22 pleats across the back. The set of three black blocks is centered on the front of the kilt, so it should also be centered on the back. That took a bit of trial and error but I eventually got there. Each pleat is 1" at the hip (the "fell" in kilt speak) and tapers to 7/8" at the waist. The amount of taper is determined by the difference between the hip and waist measurement. Mine is minimal since I have a flat buttock and the waist is measured 2" above a person's natural waist.

 

I'm sorry I don't have more detailed photos of the pleating process. There's a certain rhythm to the sequence. In short, the next pleat has to be formed and held in place before stitching the pleat one's currently working on. This is all to be accomplished by pinching the pleats with the left hand and stretching the fabric over one's thigh. With the fabric stretched the pleat is hand sewn with small invisible edge stitches. Somehow everything is supposed to end up perfectly straight and aligned. IN MY DREAMS!

 

I quickly realized that I would have to make a hundred kilts before I could master this technique. Anyone who's followed this blog knows that I'm a baste-o-holic, so I posed a question about basting on "X Marks the Scot". Stand back! This set off a small firestorm between the traditionalists and the more modern kiltmakers. After the dust settled I pretty much ignored all their advice and proceeded to baste all my pleats. In the end it's all about what works, right?

 

Even with all my basting, sewing the pleats accurately was no small feat. The horizontal red stripe was particularly difficult to keep aligned. There's definitely a knack to it. Maybe on my hundredth pleat I might have it down. Sometimes you just have to say it's "good enough for a first kilt".

 

 

So here is the completed back, pleated to the sett, with all the pleats basted into place. A good place to take a break and read up on the next step.

 

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Kilt -- Baby Steps

So I've officially taken the plunge.

 

 

This will be my guide. I think it's safe to say that this book is considered the bible of kiltmaking. It's a little on the daunting side. The book opens with a series of color plates showing "good kilt" next to "bad kilt". Good kilt length / bad kilt, too short . Good stitching, invisible / bad kilt, stitches too large. Good kilt, stripes straight / bad kilt, stripes wandering. It's hard not to feel defeated before even starting! This lady sets the bar high.

In addition to this book I've also joined an online forum called "X Marks the Scot". Barbara Tewksbury, author of the book, actively participates in the forum. I've already posted several questions and she has chimed in on all of them, sometimes at great length. I've appreciated both her expertise and willingness to explain things in a supportive way. That doesn't always happen in online forums, where some members love nothing more than to pontificate on and on, and never answer the question.

 

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

 

I spent days playing around with possible pleating styles. Yes, days! Without going too deep into the weeds, there are two types of pleating. Pleating "to the stripe" (also called military pleating), and pleating "to the sett" (in which the tartan is reproduced in the pleats). In military pleating the same stripe is centered in the pleats worked across the back of the kilt. My tartan is one of the more simple weaves, made up of only 3 colors. There are really only two possibilities for pleating to the stripe IMO. The yellow stripe centered between the black squares, and the red stripe through the yellow. I sort of approximated them in the photo above.

 

In the end I rejected both of them. Pleating to the yellow stripe created a very somber, to my eye "muddy", look. It took on almost a greenish cast.

 

 

However, it would have produced bright flashes of color when the pleats moved. Lots of drama, but a little too risky for a first (and most likely the only) kilt I will ever make for myself.

 

Pleating to the red stripe created a very golden yellow kilt. Pretty, but would I love it forever? These are the kinds of quandaries that can keep a man up at night, especially considering the cost of the materials and the amount of labor involved.

 

In the end I decided that pleating to the sett was the way to go. The pleats in the back will reproduce the tartan, giving the kilt the same appearance all the way around. In other words, I'm taking the safe route.

 

 

Here I've broken the weave down into the sections that will become the pleats. Each pleat will be 1" wide with a stripe or color border centered in each pleat.

 

 

 

Here I've pinned the pleats into place. The sett of my tartan is actually quite small. Each total repeat of the plaid is only 5". Why does this matter? It makes the depth of each pleat quite shallow. That would be fine if I had a limited amount of fabric to work with, but I have "the whole nine yards!" I definitely don't want a skimpy kilt, so I've decided that each pleat will encorporate two whole repeats of the tartan. Yet another decision that kept me awake at night!

 

Days of deliberation and not one stitch made! Next time I hope to have made some real progress.

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Sewing Bigly in 2017!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Clearly, we're sailing into uncharted waters as a nation, but my goals for the coming year are crystal clear.

 

My son will be getting married in October, and get this.....he's asked the old man to make him a kilt! I am deeply touched and honored beyond belief, but at the same time scared to death. Maybe you remember that this has been on my sewing bucket list for about 3 years now.

 

 

 

 

 

Here I was picking up my tartan, the "Loud MacLeod", with my mom at Scotland by the Yard in Quechee, Vermont. It's been on mothballs ever since! My plan is to make myself a kilt first, (read: make all the mistakes on mine), then tackle his.

 

 

I have this Folkwear pattern, but won't be using it for the kilt. There is, in fact, no "pattern" for a kilt. A kilt is totally made based on the wearer's measurements and the amount and sett (repeat) of the tartan. It's a little overwhelming. I will use the pattern for the Prince Charlie jacket and vest.

 

 

So here's to the New Year! My year of SWAP, sewing with a purpose.

 

 

My goal.....

 

Two 8 yard kilts

Two Prince Charlie (or maybe Argyle) jackets

Two vests

A Glengarry cap for me

 

Oh, and something snazzy to wear for the rehearsal dinner I'm hosting. Time to roll out the tartan!

 

I also promise to never utter the word "bigly" again!

 

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A winter's project -- The Kilt

Happy New Year, readers. I know it's been awhile since I've posted on here, but small things HAVE been taking place. Unfortunately, none of them involve any actual sewing.

Today I'm letting the cat out of the bag and announcing that my winter's project will be making an authentic Scottish kilt. So where to begin?

Several months ago I ordered Folkwear's #152, Scottish kilts. The pattern includes a history of kilts, and the tissue to make a man's Prince Charlie jacket, or coatee for those perfectionists among us. There are also instructions for knitting argyle socks (No Way!) and a sheet outlining the process for making a kilt. There is no physical pattern for a kilt. It's essentially a rectangle of fabric pleated to fit the wearer's measurements.

Emboldened and armed with this pattern I went in search of my tartan.

My search ultimately brought me here.... to the incredible Scotland by the Yard in beautiful Quechee, Vermont!

This store is a shopper's paradise for all things Scottish and Irish.

Need a wool scarf in your tartan? I'll take one of each!

Or maybe you need a new sporran to hold your wallet and cell phone? Check out the skunk fur one at the top center. LOVE!!!

Once I stopped drooling over everything in the store I got down to ordering my tartan fabric. Georgia, the owner, pulled out a massive swatchbook of tartans and quickly thumbed to my family's dress tartan. This woman really knows her tartans and is a wonderful resource. She showed me the different weights available and I settled on an 11 oz fabric. It's the same weight as the ready made kilts sold in her shop, and it seemed acceptable to me.

The typical kilt takes 8 yards. Because the fabric is 60" wide only 4 yards is required. The length of tartan is cut down the middle to make 2 long strips. The two selvedges become the bottom hem of the kilt. I ordered 5 yards because I'd also like to have a matching fly, which is a large tartan sash worn over the shoulder, trailing down the back of the jacket. Hey, I'm only going this way once. Right?

4 weeks later I received a phone call that my fabric had arrived, and back to Vermont I went.

Here is Georgia, of Scotland by the Yard, presenting me with my dress tartan. 100% wool, the real deal from Strathmore Woollen Co., Forfar, Scotland. All you tartan aficionados will be able to figure out my last name now! Have fun with that.

The color here is really off because of a fluorescent light, but here I am with my 88 year old mom. She lives in a retirement community in NH and doesn't get out much. This was such a great field trip for her, she was like a kid in candy store.

Come to think of it, so was I!

Tartan tuxedo update

Things have moved ahead nicely on the tuxedo shirt.  

I did tons of matching on the fronts of the shirt, but there are parts of a man's shirt where matching is impractical if not completely out of the question.  The center back box pleat makes matching the yoke impossible, so it's better to cut it on the bias.  I did, however, center the plaid on the fold while cutting it out.  The collar is also centered and lines up nicely with the box pleat.  Silly? Obsessive? Maybe, but making my own shirts has made me care about such details.  

The sleeve placket is another place where it's just easier to "un-match".  I use the template from Coffin's book on shirtmaking.  It makes something that looks complicated surprisingly easy.  I think it also adds a little pizzaz.  

The collar is always the biggest bugaboo for me.  I had such good luck with a collar stay slot on the linen tux shirt that I tried it again.  The point collar shape made the placement awkward, and I totally forgot to allow for the 1/4" topstitching.  The end result -- the stay doesn't go very deeply into the slot.  Still, it works, so it's not a total failure.  Just another "live and learn" sewing experience.  

The basting has been removed from the pleats, and I'm totally loving them.  They were worth every minute of pressing, basting and slip-stitching.  

All that remains is buttonholes and buttons.  

Tartan Tuxedo Shirt -- a de-stashing project

Thanks to all my readers for the get well wishes.  I'm glad to say that I'm finally back in the swing of things, and feeling in desperate need of a project.  There seems to be a lot of blogging lately about stashes.  They're being agonized over, sorted, reorganized, and used.  Mine, I'll admit is pretty small.  I have 4 lengths of fabric, a drawer full of various interfacings and a bag of scraps.  Now would be a good time to reduce the stash.  

I've decided to make another tuxedo shirt, this time with some tartan shirting that I bought from Denver Fabrics back in January during one of their free shipping promotions.  It's really very nice fabric, a fine twill weave actually, in red, olive, navy and yellow.  

There is really not much to making a tuxedo shirt.  The pleats are actually a separate piece of fabric sewn onto the shirt fronts.  So any shirt that fits you well can be pretty easily dressed up with just a couple of additional steps.  The plaid will be an extra challenge, but these kinds of challenges are what makes sewing fun for me.  

I cut a strip of fabric and experimented with various pleat sizes and matching strategies.  I decided on this arrangement which emphasized more red.  The plastron (pleated panel) will finish out at  3.75 inches wide.  

So here is my sample and the width of fabric that will be required to make it.  It takes about 3 times the width of the finished plastron.  

I pressed each pleat and then basted them into position, trying to match the plaid as carefully as possible.  

It's hard to see, but on the reverse side I slipstitched each pleat to the backside of the adjacent pleat.  These stitches are invisible from the front and will hold the pleats in place when the basting is removed. At least that's the plan.   

The pleated plastron is slipped under the interfaced front band and basted into place.  Then it's edgestitched to the shirt front along the bottom and side.  The front band is pressed over and topstitched just like any other shirt.  I'm really pleased with all the matching.  This is when a little extra attention to detail really pays off.  Yay! 

FYI  -- The plastron is cut long enough to extend beyond the neck edge and shoulder seam.  

Lastly, the excess is trimmed off and the upper edge is basted to hold the pleats in place.  From here on out it's just basic shirt construction.  

Happy Sewing!  (and de-stashing) 

Great stuff in the mailbox

You know it's going to be a great day when you find 11 yards of fabric crammed into your mailbox!  

Denver Fabrics was offering free shipping, so I figured it was a good time to pick up more shirting fabric.  I probably saved about $13.  Admittedly, DF doesn't have the greatest photos on their website, so I was holding my breath as I ripped open the package.

Yay!  No huge disappointments.  

So here's my haul.  From left to right.  First is a very fine cotton shirting in celery and white.  It has a wonderfully silky hand.  I'll use this first and re-make the Victorian shirt with a few more alterations.  

 

Next is a block printed cotton voile.  I had no idea what voile is, but I liked the print and the colors.  This turns out to be my least favorite of the batch.  The weave is quite coarse, like a cheap muslin.  I hope it softens up with a good pre-washing.  Still, I love the colors and think it will make a fun summer shirt.  

Next is an olive and red tartan.  This is a substantial fine twill weave.  Nothing flimsy about it and well worth $4.95 / yard.  

Lastly, a light teal and white oxford cloth.  This is a color that I look particularly good in.  I plan on making a basic button down from the pattern that I used last year for the MPB shirt sew-along.  

Oh, but there's more than just fabric in the mailbox!  This amazing shirt pattern is dated 1964 .  Thank you Sassy Cotton for finding this gem.  I'm planning on using the voile for this one.  I especially love the back view with the pleat and button detailing.  There is also a button tab on the short sleeve.  I just love this kind of detail, and it's what keeps me wanting to make my own clothes.  

OK.  Now dial the "way-back machine" forward to 1975.  This pattern is also from Sassy Cotton.  If you love vintage patterns I hope you will check out their Etsy shop.   My other recent source for great patterns is Wheeler Salvage.  Mary has a great selection of very stylish stuff.  I could (and DO) look at vintage patterns for hours!  

I really think this whole safari look is ready for a resurgence.  Do you?  Should there be a Summer Safari Sew-Along?  

Here is the celery stripe with my brocade vest.   My plan is to launch into a second version of the Victorian shirt.  This time I hope to simplify the construction of the front placket by making it just a larger version of the sleeve placket.  I guess time will tell if that works out.  If I have enough fabric I hope to place the bib on the bias.  

Lastly, I'm thinking the tartan would make a most excellent tuxedo shirt.   I'm not sure how the pleats work, but it could be very interesting.  

That's it for now.  It's nice to have projects in the pipeline again.