Making a Dragon kilt

[Gary]

I'm hoping to make a silk dragon print kilt for my husband. He's wanted one ever since he saw one on the 21st Century Kilt web site. We picked up 7 meters of 36" wide material while we were in China this Jan. I just unpacked it and found that the print runs the length of the material not the width. If I make it up and match patterns the dragon will be facing the floor or the ceiling. It would also be possible to piece the fabric together and then have the dragon looking right side up. How much work is it to piece the material together? I can get 5" of pleats out of each 36" panel. Are there any tricks I should know about. I've made 2 tartan kilts and one denim kilt(all 8 yard) and one tartan casual kilt, but I've never tried to piece a kilt before.

Should I go the easy route and have the pattern sideways, and if so should the dragon face the ceiling or the floor or go the hard route and piece the kilt? Or just give up and make a bathrobe?

Any advice?

Clara

[beloitpiper]

A kilt made out of silk??? Wow, you might be on your own for this one....but then again, I'll defer this to the kiltmakers on the boards. If anybody can help you, it's those wizards.

[Kiltferone]

Here is a great thread on piecing together a kilt. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Raphael]

TCFK made kilts out of silk before.

[Tattoo Bradley]

Watch out for the wind then!

[Pleater]

Wow!!

Silk with a dragon - well I have been piecing kilts to make do with cheaper materials.

I bought a whole bolt of tartanish material and when it arrived I realised that the outer face was brushed, and to get the twill running in the right direction I would have to use the inside, turned around to run selvage to selvage. That has meant - with it being a 60 inch width, that I have even more cloth to make into kilts. I have done the same thing with a DPM (camoflage) material where the pattern looked wrong running sideways.

I make the joins to be the inside fold of a pleat and make the suppression to the waist by leaving the top of the join unsewn. If you are going to cut out the fell it is not important. If you are not going to cut just sew the two layers together, allowing the edges to lie as they need to in order to be flat. You do need to think about the order in which you sew things so you can get to the seams if you are going to use a sewing machine. Do use silk thread and the finest possible needles for the sewing. I'm not sure how familiar you are with using silk, but I am going on the advice of a master tailor/dressmaker.

You might - depending on the weight of the silk consider making a hem with some depth, or even sewing in a ribbon to add extra weight at the hem, or sewing in a 'modesty' cord, tape or even elastic strip in order to restrain the pleats.

You should have a long length of material with cutting it into panels - though there might be some wastage if you wish to match the pattern - you might be able to make a Military box pleated kilt - there has been a thread about that in the DIY section - there was a photo of the modesty elastic strip used in one of them. It was thought to help keep the pleats in order - having tacked together a kilt of this type I would say it needs controlling because it flies!! It also moves beautifully. It's like a line of hula dancers.

[Gary]

My husband said to have the dragon face down, so the dragon is facing down.

Note to self - never try to make another silk or dragon kilt. The silk is slick making it difficult to hold in place, so each seam has to be basted in place before sewing, and it takes me about 30 min. per pleat (I have 6 done so far). I thought matching plaids was tedious, try matching dragon scales. Stick to plaid or solid next time.

[Mr. MacDougall]

Yeah, I've had that problem with some weaves of silk, and definately with satin. I do think that, having overcome these hurdles, though, you'll find the next one refreshingly easier.

Do post pictures?