Where do you buy Tartan material?

[David Thorpe]

If you're going to learn how to do it yourself, first buy Barb Tewkesbury's book "The Art of Kiltmaking" here: http://giftshop.scottishtartans.org/books.html From what the experts here say about it, it will save you a lot of heartbreak and lost cash.

Best advice so far. And be aware that traditional kilts are sewn by hand, not by machine.

[TheOfficialBren]

Here is a list (with ratings) of non-ebay auctions on the interwebs.

http://online-auction-sites.toptenreviews.com/

[seasaidhlinne]

Fraser Tartan will be my choice only I can't figure the heck out which fraser pattern/tartan is right. I didn't know how many branches their were in till I started doing family research. I belong to the clan Fraser that uses the motto "All our faith is in god".

oh dear. I'm not sure I can handle heart break. I can barely sew as it is. I just thought it might save me a bit. Never thought how painful it would be to make.

So where does one look for kilts/kilted skirts/tartan all under a 200 dollar price range.
I found stuff I loved but def. don't have 400 plus to put into such a thing.

[Lorna]

Burnett and Struth has 16 oz. Fraser Modern tartan for sale for $50 per metre which is quite reasonable. I bought a length of fabric (Campbell Ancient Old) from them in December and was very pleased with it. It sewed up beautifully.

Here is the link: http://www.burnetts-struth.com/sale-tartans/

[cable scot]

USA Kilts mini kilt in PV $95 fraser hunting. Kilted skirt $250 close to your price range and if you call the store he /they may have something in stock or some deal or something.

My 2p

[BCAC]

Try here. Just have a look using this link. If (or when) you want to buy, go to the site by clicking on their advert at the top of an XMarks page because doing that triggers a 10% discount.

[A Robertson]

I know 99.999% of readers here will want to crucify me when I write the following, but it might we worth taking a look! (Here goes - fingers crossed) - You do not say for what occasion the kilt/skirt is for, neither do you say which particular tartan you are looking for.. If it is only for occasional wear, and a non specific tartan - look on ebay. Here in UK, many imported (Pakistan - the origin of many UK kilts) kilts, are available for less than £20 ($30) and 8 yarders for less than £25 ($37). Admitted - not wool, but only the Tartan Police will notice. Is it really worth all the time and effort making one? (Sorry if I have offended the purists!)
Best of luck.

[llyd]

If yer gonna learn to make kilts...do yourself a big favor and start cheap...make a few out of commo.ly available material from the local shops...jumping off into a project you habe no experience with with high dollar material is a recipe for failure...also..I would not necessarily recommend starting with tartan...make a couple kilts from whatever cloth tickles your fancy...pv tweed is a good start as is some heavier cotton tweeds....getting well made pleats and nice straight well constructed fells takes a bit, and having to worry at getting a pleat to sett or stripe right in one go...well...probably not. Also, in addition to buying TAOK..download the box pleat kilt addenum to go with the book....box pleats are soooo much easier to learn...at least they were for me.

[Paul Henry]

If yer gonna learn to make kilts...do yourself a big favor and start cheap...make a few out of commo.ly available material from the local shops...jumping off into a project you habe no experience with with high dollar material is a recipe for failure...also..I would not necessarily recommend starting with tartan...make a couple kilts from whatever cloth tickles your fancy...pv tweed is a good start as is some heavier cotton tweeds....getting well made pleats and nice straight well constructed fells takes a bit, and having to worry at getting a pleat to sett or stripe right in one go...well...probably not. Also, in addition to buying TAOK..download the box pleat kilt addenum to go with the book....box pleats are soooo much easier to learn...at least they were for me.

I afraid I don't agree, with starting cheap, there is such a difference in using good quality cloth, that it actually makes it easier to sew. Also there is such a difference between using cotton and wool, that you actually use different skills, so using one won't neccessarily help when you come to use the other, for example wool has the remarkable ability to ease and shape with steam ( which is so important) and cotton camo doesn't. Actually having a tartan to start working on can be useful as you can see which lines to go for , and you can esily see where you have gone wrong, and good wool cloth can be unpicked many times without showing any marks.
Of course cloth is expensive but you can pick up bargains on ebay or similar and if you are going to be spending a long time sewing, it deserves to be on a good cloth.
One of the best and easiest kilt mkaing guides ( providing you have some sewing experience ) is Chris Eyre's Pages . of course it doesn't cover everything, but it's free and really worth a read.

[Eric D Scott]

So where does one look for kilts/kilted skirts/tartan all under a 200 dollar price range.

I found stuff I loved but def. don't have 400 plus to put into such a thing.

http://www.burnetts-struth.com/casual-kilt-on-sale/

Casual Kilt for $200 Canadian as requested. In Canada as well ...