Two DIY tweed kilt jacket conversions

**IRISH** · 16th December 11, 07:10 AM

what cat?

**theborderer** · 16th December 11, 07:38 AM

I find the length of the jackets OK, but find they are better worn open. I am, however, more worried about the "low slung" sporran strap at the back and "Garfield" certainly looks very worried.

**Tim Little** · 16th December 11, 08:11 AM

Personally I'd be more worried about Garfield's claws.

**MT4Runner** · 16th December 11, 08:18 AM

Thanks for the feedback, gents. I'll hike up the sporran belt a bit, theborderer!

Cat sporrans:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...porrans-70492/

I think I've got some before/progress photos I need to upload of those.

**MacLowlife** · 16th December 11, 12:52 PM

On the one with the patch pockets, can you remove them entirely? The flaps seem to be at an OK height, but the pickets spoil the effect. You may be able to make a (bound) slit and have a pocket under the flaps. Otherwise, I would go with flaps and no pockets. You can also make a bucket style cuff from the fabric you cut off and us that to lengthen the sleeves.

I think vents will help with bunching, but so will removing all of the excess material.

Good Luck!

**MT4Runner** · 16th December 11, 01:15 PM

Thanks MacLowlife, I can absolutely remove the patch pockets. I was going to shorten them, but I'm not averse to losing them entirely. I rarely use the lower pockets on my regular sport coats, because keys/cell phone, etc. make a funny bulge.

...and that's why I've got a sporran!! I could build them, but won't bother to make slit pockets.

The gray jacket is definitely the roomiest. If I pull the patch pockets, removing the remaining flaps to take in some width won't be difficult. If that doesn't do it, I'll move next into the mid-side seams, and either take the coat in there and add paired vents, or both.

I'm probably going to need the length on the green jacket's cuffs, so a bucket cuff sounds like a good idea. Not thinking Prince Charlie chrome buttons, but maybe some muted pewter diamond-shaped buttons on it. They would complement a bucket/gauntlet cuff nicely.

Note to self: button sources:
http://twinrosesdesign.com/Buttons%20for%20Sale.html
http://www.treasurecast.com/index.ph...duct_list&c=95
http://www.dirkandthistle.com/catalog.html

**Dajo95** · 18th December 11, 10:19 PM

Awesome! Get sewin so you can post pics. I'm starting to take up a real interest in these conversions as I don't have near the money to own the 300 jackets I want to own... As a side note, I would like the sporran better if the eyes were X's

**MT4Runner** · 19th December 11, 08:47 AM

I hit the 'net and looked at a lot more photos of both bespoke and converted kilt jackets. Rather than a large radius coming up under the lower button, I started below the upper button and made a soft slope down to the sides and a smaller radius.

This also gave me more material to work with to make Argyll bucket cuffs!

I made the big cut on the green jacket on Saturday night and spent about 8 hours yesterday sewing cuffs.

**MT4Runner** · 19th December 11, 08:48 AM

The widest, tallest panel in the lower front became the full-width lower/back cuff.

This left increasingly small pieces from which to piece together the outer, ribbed Argyll cuffs. Rather than a single piece of fabric, I used the ribs as seams to join four pieces for each upper/front cuff.

The longest piece was the inside facing where I made my sporran cut.

The other pieces were made from the cutoff in back of the jacket. I had to rotate the pattern for each piece because the overcheck in the tweed isn't square with the sleeves. I wanted the overcheck in the Argyll cuff to be parallel to the overcheck in the sleevees--even though the overcheck isn't parallel/perpendicular to either the cuff or sleeve! This seems like a minor detail, and was a pain to work with, but if I hadn't, the lines would have looked really funny in the completed jacket.

**MT4Runner** · 19th December 11, 08:52 AM

"Hey, MT4Runner, you can't sew straight!"

Yes, my friend, but there is a method to my madness.

Turned, pressed, and topstitched.

The topstitch starts at the edge of the fabric, runs in a straight line, so in the middle of the rib is 3/16" from the edge, and hits the other edge of the fabric at the opposite end.

Why do you do that, you say?

When the edges are hemmed, I don't have to deal with the thickness of the rib. The seam can be ironed flat where it is folded over. See this pic where the edges are very thin.

Cuff overcheck aligns with fabric overcheck!

Basted everything inside