Taking on the X-Kilt

[ScottEPooh]

Ah, groovy, thanks for the pic mate! That really helps make my decision. I think you're right, too narrow would look all wrong.

[Alan H]

Ah, groovy, thanks for the pic mate! That really helps make my decision. I think you're right, too narrow would look all wrong.

Now that I"ve made a few of these and seen about 6-8 in person, I would do only one thing differently. I would not do an intermediate-width apron. It would either be about as wide as a Utilikilt....which is 6-7-8 inches or I would go full-width, like a Traditional or a Freedom kilt. Here's My X-Kilt



compare the width of that apron to BeeDee's above, or this picture of X-Kilt prototype #3


The Camouflage X-Kilt apron is much narrower. I will say that if you do this, you MUST make the forward-facing pleat folds of the first and last pleats very deep. I'd make them a full three inches deep, don't make them 1.25 or 1.5 inches. The first and last pleat folds on that camo kilt are three inches deep and I still have a little bit of an issue with th eone on the right staying shut. I sewed down the inside fold last week, and that helped. All th eother inside folds are just pressed.


Now, R-Kilts make an intermediate-width apron and they look good, and Thomsec's X-kilts look GREAT, but this is just my thinking. You can make your apron any width that you want.

[Pleater]

Possibly the pleats which are drifting open need to be slightly lifted at the waist to pull them shut.

I think it depends on just where the last pleat falls on the curve of the body which determines if it can lie flat or not without a bit of tweaking of the grain line.

The easiest cure is to sew down the free edge of the pleats slightly above the rest, so a triangle of double fabric then needs to be smoothed down over the raw edge of the waistline and is covered over by the waist band.

This will pull the pleat forward, so you might simply transfer the problem to the next pleat back. The smallest lift which will do the job is advisable, otherwise you need slightly more fabric in the kilt and a lot of gathering and pressing the waist in to narrow the kilt as much as possible above the hips.