Drawstring Feilidh Beag

[kilted Kiwi2]

After making a Feilidh mor ( plaid ) for this winter I thought I need to also make a Feilidh beag as I can not wear the Feilidh Mor to work at our bar / cafe for fear of the plaid knocking expensive bottles of single malt to the floor and we can not have that !. So thanks to my wife she pointed out with the left over fabric from plaid it could be sewn together to get a length just over 3 mtrs long by about 650mm wide. So I carefully cut the leftover fabric in half and sewed it together, then I figured out the width of the under and over aprons and how many pleats I wanted. A trip to the local fabric store to buy some cotton tape for the drawstring loops/keepers and a length of woven koshihimo which is often used as apron strings . I did try to use a sewing machine to sew on the drawstring loops but in the end spent a few days hand sewing them on instead. Today I'm wearing my new Feilidh beag and it was very simple to make ( after all it's an un tailored kilt ) and you can hang it on a peg by the drawstring our use a regular kilt hanger if you like. Of course you still need to use a kilt belt in order to hold the aprons in place and the extra fabric at the top drops down to cover the belt. I took a few photos of the process and I am now on the lookout for some more nice trad tartan so I can make another one. If you are wanting to make your 1st ever kilt and like the look of the mid 1700s rather than modern knife edge pleats this type of kilt is the business . Follow the link below to see a few photos of the kilt in question

https://www.flickr.com/photos/271029...7649966525817/

[MacEanruig]

That's a creative solution for your Feilidh beag.

[kilted Kiwi2]

Thanks MacEanruig

In fact that is how I believe that the Feilidh mor and the Feilidh Beag wore both worn , with keepers and a drawstring . Recently evidence has been found from period artwork to back up this claim that drawstrings were used rather than rolling around in the muck trying to pleat a kilt on the ground , it makes a lot of sense that they used drawstrings I think !

[Liam]

I agree...well done!

[Tarheel]

I agree with the practical solution to prevent knocking Scotch bottles to the floor. Store keepers are busy enough people without a "clean up in aisle 1". Good job.

[Pleater]

you don't actually need to have the vertical loops, just sew down about 1/4 of an inch of the tape every width of the set - or at whatever separation you wish.
To pleat it you make a chain of the tape. Start by using the loose end of the tape to make a slipknot with the first loop, then pull the next loop through the first one, and then the next loop through the second one, knot the last loop to the tape at the other end of the row and you have a neatly pleated kilt.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: