Interfacing material for a PV material

[Barb T]

Mmmm, no, the canvas interfacing isn't there to keep sweat away from the wool. I can think of many a hot day of piping when my kilt has been soaked right through to the kilt belt. The canvas interfacing in a trad kilt is there to stiffen the kilt and help it keep its shape. The way the interfacing is fan-folded parallel to the pleats gives the kilt rigidity up and down the body (to keep the kilt from buckling) but allows the kilt to flex easily around the body.

I haven't any idea why PV kilt don't have interfacing. Cost issues, maybe?? Adding interfacing would add to the construction time. But, if I were making one, I'd probably include it for the same reason that a trad kilt has it - stabilization and rigidity (although it wouldn't make any sense unless the pleats were stitched down). What to use? Sew-in Pellon doesn't have the flex of woven hair canvas, but it should work and would be washable. I'd do the same kind of fan-folding with Pellon that I would do with woven interfacing. You could also probably buy a heavy cotton canvas, pre-wash it to shrink it, and use that.

Barb

[ChattanCat]

Mmmm, no, the canvas interfacing isn't there to keep sweat away from the wool. I can think of many a hot day of piping when my kilt has been soaked right through to the kilt belt. The canvas interfacing in a trad kilt is there to stiffen the kilt and help it keep its shape. The way the interfacing is fan-folded parallel to the pleats gives the kilt rigidity up and down the body (to keep the kilt from buckling) but allows the kilt to flex easily around the body.

I haven't any idea why PV kilt don't have interfacing. Cost issues, maybe?? Adding interfacing would add to the construction time. But, if I were making one, I'd probably include it for the same reason that a trad kilt has it - stabilization and rigidity (although it wouldn't make any sense unless the pleats were stitched down). What to use? Sew-in Pellon doesn't have the flex of woven hair canvas, but it should work and would be washable. I'd do the same kind of fan-folding with Pellon that I would do with woven interfacing. You could also probably buy a heavy cotton canvas, pre-wash it to shrink it, and use that.

Barb

I just don't think that a kilt should be without some interfacing above the fell to replace the material and rigidity that will be removed by cutting the pleats. I plan on triming the pleats above the fell and adding some stabilization.

Does Pellon come in different weights?

[O'Neille]

I used hair canvas on my PV St Davids. I didn't cut the pleats out because it is a 5 plus yarder and the thinner PV didn't have much bulk with one inch pleats. I guess I didn't need the canvas but I did it anyway. I'll just dip it in the tub with some woolite when it needs it and hang it to dry. I did consider only using the hair canvas on the aprons but decided that it needs to be anchored to something of substance on the pleats.

I would recommend it. My Clark 8 yard mostly handsewn kilt has hair canvas and a my Hunting Stewart 5 yard does not. I've noticed I can strap my PV kilts with interfacing a little snugger without distorting the tartan or getting that fold in the aprons.

[Tartan Hiker]

Without this layer of canvas the strain of the buckles (or whatever you use for fastening) will strain the pleat stitches. I use a 3" wide strip of plain old cotton canvas in my washable kilts. Wash it several times in hot water so it won't shrink later, and be sure that it is loosely stitched to the pleats and tightly fastened to the inside of the kilt beneath the buckle straps. That way as you cinch down on the straps the canvas is taking the strain and not letting it translate to the pleat stitching.
Think of it like the inside of a hard hat. The harness grabs your head and the helmet just goes along for the ride. In the kilt, you're actually cinching the canvas around you waist and the kilt just goes along for the ride.

[ccga3359]

Without this layer of canvas the strain of the buckles (or whatever you use for fastening) will strain the pleat stitches. I use a 3" wide strip of plain old cotton canvas in my washable kilts. Wash it several times in hot water so it won't shrink later, and be sure that it is loosely stitched to the pleats and tightly fastened to the inside of the kilt beneath the buckle straps. That way as you cinch down on the straps the canvas is taking the strain and not letting it translate to the pleat stitching.
Think of it like the inside of a hard hat. The harness grabs your head and the helmet just goes along for the ride. In the kilt, you're actually cinching the canvas around you waist and the kilt just goes along for the ride.

Interesting, perhaps I shall order all my future kilts lined. Thank you.

[ChattanCat]

Without this layer of canvas the strain of the buckles (or whatever you use for fastening) will strain the pleat stitches. I use a 3" wide strip of plain old cotton canvas in my washable kilts. Wash it several times in hot water so it won't shrink later, and be sure that it is loosely stitched to the pleats and tightly fastened to the inside of the kilt beneath the buckle straps. That way as you cinch down on the straps the canvas is taking the strain and not letting it translate to the pleat stitching.
Think of it like the inside of a hard hat. The harness grabs your head and the helmet just goes along for the ride. In the kilt, you're actually cinching the canvas around you waist and the kilt just goes along for the ride.

The canvas or broadcloth is used to carry the load across the pleats at the back of the kilt. This relieves the pleats from the stress of the belt buckles.
The interfacing is for supporting the pleats in the vertical direction. It simply keeps the pleats straight in the vertical direction.

Wallace

[Sheep In Wolf's Clothing]

I use very heavy cotton canvas (looks almost like burlap) on my PV kilts. Though, in the latest PV kilt that I am making, I added hair canvas just to get the feel of it because I am going to be using in the next kilt I will be making which will be a 16oz wool kilt.
Sara

[Barb T]

The canvas or broadcloth is used to carry the load across the pleats at the back of the kilt. This relieves the pleats from the stress of the belt buckles.
The interfacing is for supporting the pleats in the vertical direction. It simply keeps the pleats straight in the vertical direction.

Wallace

Gaak - major edit - I inadvertently deleted a line out of the following before I originally posted it, and, leaving out that line changed the whole meaning. Sorry!! It's fixed now.

When canvas is put into a kilt properly, it is fan-folded. So, it really doesn't do anything to keep strain off the pleats. But a trad kilt _should_ have a stabilizer, a 1 1/4" strip of broadcloth (not canvas) that is stitched securely but invisibly at the waistline of the pleats and under the canvas. This keeps the buckles and straps from putting stress on the pleat stitching. So, what I had _meant_ to say the first time is that the _canvas_ doesn't keep the pleats from stretching.

Think of it like the inside of a hard hat. The harness grabs your head and the helmet just goes along for the ride. In the kilt, you're actually cinching the canvas around you waist and the kilt just goes along for the ride.

This is true if you're thinking about the stabilizer but not if you're thinking about the canvas.

As far as the pleats below the stabilizer, there's little to keep the pleats from being pulled at the hips (although the steeking helps a little), which is one of the reason why, if you have a hip buckle, it shouldn't be pulled tight. And, as Matt and I have said many times on this forum, a man's kilt doesn't need a hip buckle.

Cheers,

B

[Tartan Hiker]

This is true if you're thinking about the stabilizer but not if you're thinking about the canvas.

In most casual kilts (at least the ones I've dissected and the ones I've made) one strip of canvas cloth does both jobs. Easier to install, quicker to dry, plenty of support for light weight material, etc.

I've never made a full-on traditional tank (but will start as soon as "the book" arrives!) so I am unfamiliar with all the separate items that real kiltmakers employ. I do know that in a light, casual kilt one strip of pre-shrunk canvas under a cotton lining works perfectly well.

[Kiltman]

The canvas interfacing in a trad kilt is there to stiffen the kilt and help it keep its shape. The way the interfacing is fan-folded parallel to the pleats gives the kilt rigidity up and down the body (to keep the kilt from buckling) but allows the kilt to flex easily around the body.
Barb

Thanks again Barb. I always learn some thing when you speak about kilts.