Military Kilt repairs

[The Wizard of BC]

Our local Military unit here in Victoria is The Canadian Scottish. They brought me two of their Kilts to see if there was anything I could do to repair them.
These two kilts are approx. 20 to 30 years old and have seen their share of use and abuse so I thought it would be sort of cool to do a pictorial of the repairs as I do them.
I'm not trying to return these to like new condition and I'm not going to work non-stop on them so this thread may take a few days or weeks to finish.

Here is the first Kilt in sort of the condition that I received it. I say sort of because this kilt was so filthy that it almost stood up on it's own. So the first thing I did was wash it.
It took three baths in my tub with Woolite for the water to not come out black.

Here is the kilt with the first couple of lines of basting just to sort of stabilize everything. There are no creases left in any of the pleats.



This next photo shows the Fell area where the previous repairs and worn stitching came out as soon as the dirt was no longer holding everything together.



As I was basting the pleats I noticed some strange features of these kilts.

First is that there is no reverse pleat. The last pleat on the right side ends and the apron begins as it comes out from under the last pleat. So there is no under apron left side.

The outer apron is strange too. It is not symmetrical. As you can see in this photo the crease on the left side is totally different from the right side.



The next step was to remove the liner and interfacing. It is very worn and broken down.

I noticed as I removed the liner that there is no stabilizer holding the stresses of the buckles from the pleat stitching. This is probably why the Fell stitches have failed repeatedly.



Here is a close up of the interfacing.



Because I am going to need to reshape the outer apron I need to remove the top band. And what do you think I find but the original top band underneath.
I had noticed that the Fell felt awfully thick and puffy to me. Here is part of the problem.



This is the end of the first days work on this Kilt. I'll continue this thread as the work progresses.

Some advice to those who find a used military kilt listed as 'some wear and normal use". Find a good kiltmaker and be prepared to pay dearly in labor charges.

[sydnie7]

I would say there is a fine line between "used kilt" and "cleaning rag" and this garment is precariously balanced on that line! You certainly have your work cut out for you and I salute your dedication. Will be very interesting in techniques and tactics to come.

[SteveB]

Steve,
I do not envy you on this work. My family has had through the generations a military kilt that has seen better days. Fortunately it has been kept very clean. Like the example you are dissecting it originally had no canvas liner. About twenty-five years ago my uncle had a kiltmaker open it up and put in a liner to take the stress off the fell, which was starting to "pull". He spent more on the refurbishing of this kilt than on his two new custom woven nine yard 16 oz kilts that he actually wore. The military kilt was far too small to fit him, but he kept it on his clothes rack as a sentimental item of relatives long past. A cousin is in possession of it now, who has been reminded that should he not care for it, it must be passed to another relative. ( His wife would like him to lose enough weight to wear it )

[The Wizard of BC]

BTW the Tartan is Stewart Hunting. I estimate the weight of the fabric to be in 18-20oz per linear yard range. It is pleated to alternating red and yellow stripes which has earned it the nickname "The Catsup and Mustard Kilt".

There are 38 knife pleats each 3/4" wide reveal. And this kilt measures a 32" waist.

Also note that the Twill line runs in the 'wrong' direction.

SteveB, the Kilt has a canvas liner it can be seen in the 4th and 5th photos. But the canvas is really ratty and worn. What is missing is the stabilizer which should go from the strap across the back to the buckle.

I thought everyone would like to see what is hidden behind the liner of a Traditional Kilt. It is the hidden stuff that makes a Tank capable of such a long life. The stabilizer and hair canvas are the internal structure that keeps all the stresses off the pleat stitches. You can see that when the internal elements begin to fail the whole kilt fails.

[pdcorlis]

I have a friend who is a world renown brain surgeon and I don't think even he would attempt this operation - my hat is off to you good sir.

[Kiltman]

I have a friend who is a world renown brain surgeon and I don't think even he would attempt this operation - my hat is off to you good sir.

Me too.

[Splash_4]

One wonder that if, in this case, it might not have been a better idea just to replace the kilt. I am anxiously awaiting what miracle you are able to pull off sir.

[MacHummel]

Steve I had a similar experience not as bad as yours mind you with at a local pipe with one of heir kilts that they want repaired very labour intensive. Good luck Steve I know you can make it happen.

[Kid Cossack]

Great googly moogly!

Steve, from looking at the precision pleating of your original-style Freedom Kilts, I had a pretty high respect for your "mad skillz." When you branched out into tartans, and with pockets no less, I thought, "Wow, he transferred over from modern/casual to tartan---that's pretty impressive."

Now that I see this project, I find that I have underestimated you. To quote Winston Churchill on the Grand Canyon, you have exceeded my expectations, and they were very great indeed.

[Ian.MacAllan]

Steve, your photos make it clear that this kilt is far past its economically useful life as a garment. Its only remaining value is for research and instruction. Many thanks for sharing this experience with us.

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