Repairing a kilt yourself?

**Four** · 27th January 12, 07:00 AM

I got an ultimate sport kilt in hunter tartan for Christmas and wore it for the second time to the central Florida highland games and my wife pointed out that one of the stitches on the back of the kilt came undone.

Its one above the pleats close to the top.

How hard / careful do i have to be to fix this? Any risks i should consider? Suchs i have a stitch pulled within a month of ownership

**Riverkilt** · 27th January 12, 07:10 AM

You can have any two of price, quality, or service.

The most important part of the kilt is the thread that holds it together. Only a few kiltmakers - usually the hand sewn kiltmakers - use the really good thread from Great Britain or Germany to sew up kilts.

I don't think there's any problem with someone who can thread a needle making a quick repair before the problem gets a lot worse. Kilt maintenance is something that sort of evolves with kilt ownership. If you feel better taking it to town to a seamstress or a tailor you can do that too. But, don't see any problem tacking things in place yourself.

**Chas** · 27th January 12, 07:31 AM

I agree with Ron above.

There are two skills a kiltwearer needs to know.

Simple stitching - making repairs and sewing buttons on - your wife might not always be on hand.

Pressing your kilt (not ironing, pressing) - You will need to do it at least once a year, so why pay someone else to do something that you could easily do in the comfort of your own home?

Sylko and Güttermann are good thread manufacturers.

Regards

Chas

**tundramanq** · 27th January 12, 08:13 AM

Chas I totally agree but in america I would change the pressing line to:

Pressing your kilt (not ironing, pressing) - You will need to do it at least once a year, so why pay someone else to do something that you could easily do better in the comfort of your own home?

Cleaners here are mostly clueless on kilts. They will not be able to let the kilt "rest" on the table after pressing either.

**Riverkilt** · 27th January 12, 08:16 AM

Somewhere, there's a very old thread from Ham about pressing your kilt on the floor. Just too difficult to wrestle with it on a tiny ironing board. He lays it out on the floor to get everything laid out just right then presses.

**Four** · 27th January 12, 08:16 AM

Alright, i'm going to just see if me or my wife can stitch it up so it holds together longer. No clue about pressing though, what's that all about? I can likely just use the search function though

**tundramanq** · 27th January 12, 08:49 AM

My pressing table is a Sullivans home hobby table with their ironing cover.
It is 5 x 3 feet open and about 1 by 3 folded. It cost me $170 a year ago from Hayneedle.com with free shipping ( It weighs 65 pounds ) I rarely fold it as it is also handy for other uses and storing my kilt overnight for next day. It's also handy with the ironing cover for layout work in sewing as the cover is slick and fabric slides easy enough to straighten but stays in place.

If your other hobby is rebuilding engines - not on this table - the leaves are rated at 30 pounds max.

The link: Table: from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Sullivans-1257...7679505&sr=1-1

From Hayneedle via Amazon: Table
http://www.amazon.com/Sullivans-Home...sr=1-1-catcorr

Ironing cover:
http://www.amazon.com/Sullivans-Iron...sr=1-1-catcorr

$190 Now - shop around - maybe?

**davidg** · 27th January 12, 10:09 AM

You don't say HOW the pleats are stitched so I will assume they are not top stitched but sewn so the stitches are not visible from the outside

It may be too difficult a task for you to remove the lining and repair the stitching from inside so the best bet is to stitch invisibly from the outside. This is not particularly difficult to do but takes a steady hand, good eyesight and TINY stitches

From the outside, place the point of the needle about a quarter inch inside the pleat and bring the needle point out at the crease, right at the bottom of the fell (the bottom of the pleat). Carefully place the needle into the underlying fabric, keeping the pleat well aligned, and back out again about one eighth of an inch in the direction of the waistband (i.e. upwards), catching the top part of the pleat right at the crease. Re-insert the point of the needle downwards into the underlying fabric and repeat the previous step, moving up 1/8 inch and again catching the creased part of the upper pleat. The result should be invisible but if it is not, rip out the stitches and start again. You do not need to stitch through all the inner layers of canvas and lining, only the outer fabric

Sorry I don't have a picture but one of the other kilt makers may have something available to demonstrate what I mean

**Four** · 27th January 12, 11:03 AM

hm i see what you mean

If you look at the kilt here from the back its one of the stitching above the pleats... i guess it does look invisible. Maybe a tailor would be better than i

http://www.sportkilt.com/product/3351/Black-Watch-.html

**Kilted Karl** · 27th January 12, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by Riverkilt

Somewhere, there's a very old thread from Ham about pressing your kilt on the floor. Just too difficult to wrestle with it on a tiny ironing board. He lays it out on the floor to get everything laid out just right then presses.

Do you perhaps know which thread that is? Or a better one on pressing?

Your Obedient Servant,

Karl