First kilt: resizing advice

[sgr]

I recently acquired my first kilt. To be specific, this one. I'm not yet very knowledgeable on the topic, but personally I am pleased with the quality so far, especially for the price as it was on sale.

I'm looking forward to wearing it, but, alas, I first require some advice.

The kilt is a few cm - or inches if you will - too large at the waist. After some reading around on this forum, as it's only a couple of inches, I assume I can resize it to an extent by:

- Moving this strap as indicated:

- Moving these two buckles as indicated:

• Can someone confirm or deny that this is correct?
• Is this something I can do by myself or should I preferably get a professional to do this (I'm not sure there are any around near my location, furthermore, I guess this will cost me more than the kilt itself...)?
• After undoing the stitches on the strap and buckles, do I sew it back by hand at the new desired location by passing the needle through the holes in the leather where the previous stitches were passing through, or should this simply be done with a sewing machine?
• And finally: I assume I move the strap and the two buckles by the same amount?

Any other advice that may be useful?

With the risk of being hunted down for what may very well be blasphemy, I was considering putting the kilt briefly in a tumble dryer to attempt to shrink it. But I'm not sure polyviscose is susceptible to shrinkage, or how bad this will be for the leather and the fit in general. Moving the strap and two buckles would be the more sane approach I assume.


Thank you.

[jhockin]

1) you are correct; you would move the strap and buckles, as mentioned.
However, you could also add another strap, at the smaller circumference spot, on the inner apron, and add two buckles in the desired spots, for the outer apron straps ( some kilt hire places do this, apparently).
2) yes, move ( or install new) the same amount.
3) you should have no problem doing this by yourself.
4) if moving strap and buckles, using heavy duty thread, sew through the holes in the leather, and through all layers of your kilt fabric.
5) I don’t think PV will shrink in a dryer.

[KennethSime]

It sounds like you've got the right idea. I did a picture tutorial of taking in a kilt in the Kilts & Culture group on Facebook awhile back: here's the link.

Also, the venerable Barb Tewksbury did a great tutorial here on XMarks.

[Troglodyte]

Yes, you are thinking along the right lines...

One thing to note - move all straps an equal amount, so that the sett of the tartan on the front outer apron remains centralised.

Another solution is to replace the strap on the left inner apron with one long enough to pass all the way around your back, and exchange the strap on the right for a buckle. The second, lower, strap and buckle can be removed completely.

The new longer strap is passed through the slot on the left, around the back and fastened to the buckle on the right - this has the effect of drawing-in evenly both ends of the kilt at the same time by the same amount. This new strap will need to be mounted further forward, or away, from the left-hand edge of the inner apron as you have supposed.

Good luck..!

[sgr]

1) you are correct; you would move the strap and buckles, as mentioned.
However, you could also add another strap, at the smaller circumference spot, on the inner apron, and add two buckles in the desired spots, for the outer apron straps ( some kilt hire places do this, apparently).
2) yes, move ( or install new) the same amount.
3) you should have no problem doing this by yourself.
4) if moving strap and buckles, using heavy duty thread, sew through the holes in the leather, and through all layers of your kilt fabric.
5) I don’t think PV will shrink in a dryer.

Thank you for taking some time to answer each of my questions in detail.

It sounds like you've got the right idea. I did a picture tutorial of taking in a kilt in the Kilts & Culture group on Facebook awhile back: here's the link.

Also, the venerable Barb Tewksbury did a great tutorial here on XMarks.

That comes in handy, thanks!

Yes, you are thinking along the right lines...

One thing to note - move all straps an equal amount, so that the sett of the tartan on the front outer apron remains centralised.

Another solution is to replace the strap on the left inner apron with one long enough to pass all the way around your back, and exchange the strap on the right for a buckle. The second, lower, strap and buckle can be removed completely.

The new longer strap is passed through the slot on the left, around the back and fastened to the buckle on the right - this has the effect of drawing-in evenly both ends of the kilt at the same time by the same amount. This new strap will need to be mounted further forward, or away, from the left-hand edge of the inner apron as you have supposed.

Good luck..!

I have to admit having one long strap is also an interesting solution - did not even come to mind as an option. Is such an approach more a thinking outside of the box-solution, or is this something one may actually find on proper formal wear kilts as well? Not that I will be wearing mine in a formal setting, just curious.


In the meantime though, I already successfully moved the strap. Initially I was using back stitches, but I switched to using the saddle stitch as I found it to be easier to locate where to push the needle through so that it would pass through the already existing holes in the leather.

So far so good. When I find the time I will continue with the buckles and report back!