Well, hmmmm. One of the reasons I wrote my book is because the instructions in the Threads article (which are essentially the same as the ones in the Folkwear pattern) are pretty thin. If you have a simple tartan and a square body shape, you can make an OK kilt from the instructions, although some of the interior construction that I think is really important in a kilt is missing. If the tartan is complex, or you need much shaping in the kilt, the level of detail just isn't there. I had learned to make kilts before I read the Threads article, so it's hard for me to evaluate whether someone would be able to learn from those instructions. As an experienced kiltmaker, though, I thought they were pretty inadequate. In some ways, they reminded me of the Kliban "How to Draw a Cat" sketch. Make three circles with two triangles on top, turn it around, and it miraculously looks like one of his wonderful cat drawings. Or the American Scientist cartoon that shows a physicist in front of the blackboard with a whole string of complex equations on one side of the board linked to the same on the other end of the board by the phrase "and then a miracle happens"...

Jimmy might want to weigh in on this one, since my comments are a little biased!! But, the kinds of important details that he and I learned when we were taught how to make proper traditional kilts is pretty tough to convey in a few pages.

Barb