This week, I made a kilt! That's right, a real life Scottish kilt. I'm going to give an instructional on how I did it for under $35 and in 4 days, which in this case were the days of the 2015 Snowpocalypse.
I ordered the "Modern Campbell" tartan of eBay, not because my family is from the Campbell clan, but because my wife has a flannel shirt of the same pattern that I love and borrow frequently, I confess. I do have some Scottish blood on both side of my family, but it really doesn't matter if you don't. Some tartans are under copyright to certain Scottish clans, and others are open to anyone, including this one.
I ordered 3 yards of double-width tartan (approx. 55 inches), which I cut along the middle length-wise and sewed together to match the pattern. This took two tries and still was imperfect, but as many instructions will tell you, the joining can be easily hidden within a pleat in the back. The material is a cotton/polyester blend, which is recommended. Otherwise, wool was used in making kilts originally, so there you go.
Secondly, since the edge was frayed and did not have a finished edge already (recommended when possible), I had to hem it myself. I pinned up the edge of the now 6 yards of material (and cut it to allow desired length) and sewed the edge about 1 inch into the material as not to make a edge too bunched up as a hem closer to the edge would do.
Next, take your measurements: waist, hip, and length. Most kilts sit at the top of the hips (basically the waist), are at their fullest at the hip (widest part of your bum), and continue to the middle of the knee or just above it. My measurements are 29.5" waist, 32" hip, and 23-24" length (waist to knee).
Next to begin the pleats, you need to lay the material out with the softer side facing down. Starting on the furthermost left end of the material, allow about 20-25" of material for the under apron. You will hem this later. To start the pleats, consider how wide your tartan sett (pattern) is. Mine was something like 6 inches. As you can see, what is shown of each pleat is about 3/4" of material, and the pattern repeats. The depth of the pleats are very important to achieve the much sought-after "swing" in a kilt. Mine are about 4" deep. As you go, pin the top of each pleat vertically to keep it from pulling horizontally. Pin at the top as well as 6-8" down and at the bottom to keep it tidy for sewing. Now iron in those pleats as crisp and straight as possible.
I made 18-19 pleats in mine, but make as many as you need to go from one side of your hips to the other. The hips are all you need to think about for the time being and the waist will come later. The remainder of your material will be used for the over-apron, and usually the sett is centered, but this can be altered any time later. Mine turned out to just just enough, luckily.
The first really hard part was sewing down the pleats at the hips. You're going to want to sew with the outside of the kilt facing you, starting from the left since underneath the pleats are moving in the correct direction. Top part of the pleats are opening forward and bottom parts are moving toward you. I hope that makes sense. If not, after trying it, I believe it will. I did it at least twice until I got it right. Iron when you're finished.
Since the pleats are now in place, congratulations! You can move on to shaping your beautiful work of art. Next, I did something insane. I cut out the extra pleat material from the fell (which, in taking forever to learn what the hell is a fell, I learned it is the distance between the waist and hip stitching). Don't stitch down the top just yet! There is still more to do. Above you can see how I cut out the extra material, which seems crazy but it totally worth it. Depending on how deep your pleats are, just experiment and see what works for your situation. In mine I could take out 1.5", so anything helps. Just make sure there is enough material to form a seam and stitch it down, so don't cut out too much. This could ruin it and that's why it's scary. Make sure to leave the first and last pleats as they are for good measure.
Now, math. No fear, Shakespeare. Since my hips are 2.5" wider than my waist, I needed to downsize the top seam by that much for my waistline to be fitted correctly. If I gathered in 1/8" on each pleat at the top, the fit was calibrated. It's a small change, but it works. Pin, try it on (often) and see if it works. This is when it begins to feel like a kilt should feel. Another option for some is to sew in darts to either side of your hips to make this change, but I think adjusting the pleats looks better in the long run.
After you are sure (LIKE REALLY sure) you're set, go ahead and sew down the top seam. This was frustrating and took a long time, but it's worth the effort to have good output in this step. Don't be afraid or lose your cool to rip the seams and try again. I did countless times, especially since this was my first attempt.
At this point, it's time to set down the first and last pleats. Use lots of pins and ideally begin at the hips and move up, but I went the opposite direction and it turned out fine (mostly). Go about 1/8" from the edge of the pleat and only do the first and last for the time being.
If you are adding a lining (recommended, sorry there's no photo of that process, I got carried away and stopped taking pictures), now's the time. I did three separate sections: front apron, back, and under apron. Experiment and see what functions best. Use that little engineering part of your brain. You're going to want to pin down the lining at the hip line and fold it up, iron it, and have enough width to reach to the waistline, eventually to be secured by the finishing edge. Use lots of straight pins. They are your friends! Don't be overly brave(heart) and freehand anything. You most likely will have to do it over.
After you've pinned the lining down all the way to the waistline, sew down the rest of your pleats within the fell. This was the most time consuming and frustrating for me, but really made it come together. Also, sew down the top of the lining to the aprons. Iron.
Now, hem the edge of the under apron to length as it will not be seen underneath. Just make sure it reaches to the far left side of your left hip. It may be a good time as well to rip the edge of the front apron at your furthermost right hip to allow fray. (Super manly, by the way. Use your teeth if you must).
Now wrap it around your waist and look in the mirror, visualizing where the belt loops will go, if you wish to have belt loops. Some prefer a more traditional strap setup, which you can find here:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f144/how-do-you-attach-kilt-straps-25936/
To make the belt loops, but sections of material with what you want to be shown in the middle and enough material to fold underneath to give it body. For mine, I had to gauge what would show and what would be hidden according to the tartan pattern. Once you have them cut (approx. 4" long) pin them down according to the pattern by themselves and sew two rows of stitches to make the into a little threefold strip of cloth with the desired pattern showing on the front. Now iron.
Using the fold-over technique, I sewed the bottom part of the belt loop first, folded it up, and secured it at the waistline with another stitch at the bottom and top of the loop. This video explains it best:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRaf-YejFT4
The belt loops were damn difficult to attach. Easily the most difficult part of the project for me. Persevere. What would Sean Connery do? Also, make sure to iron to assure the stitch to set properly.
Now, try it on with a belt. This should be really cathartic and exciting! Look at you!
I added next the waistline finish. Using the fold-over technique again, I started on the outside of the kilt and pinned down the remaining material (now about 3 feet) along the edge, matching the front apron's sett pattern especially and sewed a seam 1/2" from the top, folded it over, and from the front (everything you do should be with the outside facing you, for neatness), sew the material down again to form and nice clean finish. Dispose of the extra material (or save it for another project if possible).
I admit, I'm not completely finished with my kilt. I plan to add a button on the under apron and button hole on the front apron to secure it a bit before the belt, but that will take place in the future.
Best of luck! Also, don't let anyone tell you you're weird or dumb or a homo or anything like that because you're wearing a kilt. I've struggled a lot with confidence in wearing something abnormal myself. People are afraid of abnormality and something that's different, so they make fun of it. Be a trend-setter and show the world you're not afraid to do something different. Pants are seriously overrated anyway.
Sources that were incredibly valuable:
http://www.scottishdance.net/highland/MakingKilt.html
http://h2g2.com/approved_entry/A10177427
