New on the kilt journey

[AndrewJohn]

I have just bought Barbara Tewksbury’s book and managed to buy 6m of 16ozs pure wool fabric on ebay for only £35 (40€)!! So if my first attempt is not perfect at least I will be able to wear the kilt to garden in! Looking forward to hearing how your first efforts go.

[bookish]

I have just bought Barbara Tewksbury’s book and managed to buy 6m of 16ozs pure wool fabric on ebay for only £35 (40€)!! So if my first attempt is not perfect at least I will be able to wear the kilt to garden in! Looking forward to hearing how your first efforts go.

Thank you! I just started working on my stitching this week. Since pleats use fell stitching, and they seem to be the bulk of stitchwork, that's how I'm starting my practice. I can tell it's going to take a while.

I hope that your efforts are successful!

[bookish]

I ordered 1 meter of single-width tartan to practice on. I started working on the fell stitch to splice the tartan (It's single-width and aymmetrical, so I get to practice herringbone hemming at some point, or I'll just blanket stitch it later).

My fell stitching was very fussy at first, and I think I'll meed to work on 1) positioning the fabric differently, 2) keeping my shoulders down and relaxed, and 3) sitting in a taller chair at my table until I build a tailor board to put on my diningroom table so that I can stand while I work.

As time went on, my posture worsened, my trapezius got tense, and my stitching became irregular. I did learn a couple of things: I need to keep my thread length shorter and I need to work in shorter passages.

[Kitfoxdave]

Glad to see you joined up! I will be interested in watching your project come to life!
I recently retired, and I am losing girth... so I am altering my kilts to fit... learning to stitch is challenging with arthritic thumbs, but it can alway be redone... on the average it takes me approximately 3 times to do a decent row of stitching... but I am improving! The folks here are super helpful with insight and good advice.

One philosiphy I have gained over the years is to stop working on a project when I get frustrated, and come back to it at a later time... otherwise it comes out lesser quality than it should be.

Again, I hope to see the results of your project!

[bookish]

Glad to see you joined up! I will be interested in watching your project come to life!
I recently retired, and I am losing girth... so I am altering my kilts to fit... learning to stitch is challenging with arthritic thumbs, but it can alway be redone... on the average it takes me approximately 3 times to do a decent row of stitching... but I am improving! The folks here are super helpful with insight and good advice.

One philosiphy I have gained over the years is to stop working on a project when I get frustrated, and come back to it at a later time... otherwise it comes out lesser quality than it should be.

Again, I hope to see the results of your project!

Thank you so much! I think taking breaks is helpful. I have a tendency to want to "power through" when I reach a tough spot on a project for which I am invested, so your advice is good advice. I haven't done much since I finished a second fell stitch on the other side of the tartan. I think that I didn't have enough tension on the fabric on either side, since the middle of the fabric was the hardest to deal with while I was working on my stitching. I saw The Bearded Kilter's 4 yard kilt series on YouTube, and he had clamps on the top and bottom of his pleats to maintain tension while sewing, and I think that is an interesting approach. That may be helpful if you are having a hard time getting enough pressure with your non-stitching hand thumb while working.

Please post your progress, too!

[Pleater]

I have a sewing bird, an elegantly curved sprung clamp shaped like a hummingbird's beak used to tension sewing for pleats and hems. Very handy.

Anne the Pleater

[Kitfoxdave]

Dearest Anne the Pleater could you please post a picture of this rare bird? Been around a lot of quite experienced and talented seamstresses and tailors over the past 6 decades and never even heard of such a helpful critter!

Thanks in advance!