Here goes: Longhuntr Kilt #1

[longhuntr74]

Wally..I was able to incorporate your suggestions without much trouble. Here's what I came up with.

Reshaped underapron...wasn't there yet, so this was an easy fix.


Reshaped apron...from the fell down.


By the way...made some progress on the actual sewing...5 pleats down...only 17 to go. Here's the first two.


In truth, I haven't worked on it since Sunday...maybe tomorrow I'll have some time.

[ChattanCat]

That is some nice rework. I think you will be happy with the apron shapes.

Pleating is the hardest part of the kilt. I find that I can to only 5 pleats, mostly less, in one sitting. Try to make your stitches in the fell 10 stitches/inch although, I try for 10 and sometimes only get 8/inch.

It takes time to center the vertical element, keep the tapering from bottom of fell to waist then flare it out above the waist and still keeping the element centered. It doesn't get easier, but you are more vigilant the more you do it.

Kilt on,

[Brian K]

Looking good so far, sir. Looks like you've got some hard, yet rewarding, work ahead of you. Can't wait to see how this goes and how the finished product looks on you!

[longhuntr74]

Looking good so far, sir. Looks like you've got some hard, yet rewarding, work ahead of you. Can't wait to see how this goes and how the finished product looks on you!

The kilt isn't actually for me...it's for a good friend who bought the fabric in the first place and has done a tremendous amount to help me out. That being said, his measurements are only about .5" shorter and 1" bigger than mine at the waist, so I should be able to model the kilt when I get it done.

By the way...here's the pic of the 5 pleats sewn...I realized I grabbed the wrong pic last night when I was posting and didn't feel like going back to photobucket to upload more pics at that time of night.

[longhuntr74]

I find that I can to only 5 pleats, mostly less, in one sitting. Try to make your stitches in the fell 10 stitches/inch although, I try for 10 and sometimes only get 8/inch.

Hmm...I guess I haven't been counting stitches...perhaps I should. They're small...I basically am doing one stitch every two threads in the weave I think...with a slight backstitch as TAoK recommends. They are invisible and nice tight seams...and straight seams too...so I guess I'm doing it right.

[Barb T]

Looks like you're doing beautiful work!

Barb

[pdcorlis]

Looks like you're doing beautiful work!

Barb

Now THAT is high praise indeed!

[adrk]

Looks. So. Awesome. And. Well. Deserved high. Praise. On. Ur work... From. Ur. Fellow. Xmarks. Er


Awesome. Work. U.

[longhuntr74]

Now THAT is high praise indeed!

For any of you that have never had the chance to correspond with Barb, I will tell you that she is a very generous and friendly lady. She willingly gives advice and assistance to budding kiltmakers and is always there to answer questions. As she only lives a couple of hours away from me, I will be making plans to go meet her in person on some weekend...she's a legend in this community and her praise means a lot to me. Thanks for the complement Barb.

[longhuntr74]

It's been awhile since I updated my status...and taken pics of the project. Had time to sit down and sew 3 more pleats today...which brings me up to the 1/2 way point...11 pleats. And stabbing myself in the cuticle of my left thumb, causing me to bleed, made this project an official Longhuntr project (all of my reenactment products have blood drawn at some point it seems)!

Here's a couple of pics:



I have made about every mistake discussed in the book...but am very happy with how it's turning out. The last three pleats also are better then the previous three or four...which shows that I'm getting better at the technique. The waist had started to get a bit large over the first five pleats...I remedied that by going about 1/16" smaller over the next 6 and am now dead on my measurements for both the waist and fell.