How much tartan for a kilt?

[The Wizard of BC]

Ah, a machinist with a question... Then perhaps an Engineer can help with an answer.

First, a disclaimer---I assume because you are using Barb's book that you intend to make a Traditional Style Kilt. You're not going to try to adapt or change anything. If you are,(other than using a VERY light weight fabric)you will just confuse yourself. Barb is the expert here. Follow the book. Follow her instructions and answers she posts here.
I am not a Traditional Style Kiltmaker. Anything I say here does not count if it disagrees with Barb in any way.
But, I probably understand the way your brain works. I understand numbers and measuring.

So, give us the numbers you have so far. We need:
Your Hip measurement,
Waist measurement,
Your Drop,
Your split numbers,
The total amount of fabric you have to work with.
What Tartan your fabric is,
And it can be helpful to know your height and weight.

When you post these we can start.

[Thunderbolt]

Ah, a machinist with a question... Then perhaps an Engineer can help with an answer.

Well there ya go!

Here's what I have so far.
So, give us the numbers you have so far. We need:
Your Hip measurement, 41"
Waist measurement,45"
Your Drop,21"
Your split numbers,Waist/Apron 21", waist/pleat 20", Hips/apron 22", hips/pleats 23"
The total amount of fabric you have to work with. As much as I need. I have probably 30yds, double width
What Tartan your fabric is,It has a 6.125" sett (6 1/8")
And it can be helpful to know your height and weight. 5'7", 215lbs

Also I should add that I'm pleating to stripe, not sett.

Thanks all for the help. I'm going for a hike now. Need to get out for a while...

T.

[The Wizard of BC]

You did not say which Tartan you are working with. But I assume that it not a real Tartan because no one has 30 yards of expensive Tartan just laying around.

Sometimes when a kiltmaker has only a given amount of fabric they adjust pleat width to make the kilt the correct size but you have plenty to play with so let's just run the numbers.

Starting from the outer apron edge you will need;

7" to 9" for the Fringe edge
22" for your Outer Apron
9" to 10" for the Deep Pleat
23 to 25 repeats of your Tartan pattern or 6.125" X 23 = 140.875" to 6.125" X 25 = 153.125".
15" to 17" for the Reverse Pleat
22" for the Inner Apron
5" to 6" for the Apron edging.

If you use the smaller of all the requirements you will need a total of;

7"+22"+9"+140.875"+15"+22"+5"=220.875" or 6.135 yards if single width or 3.068 yards double width.

If you use the larger of all the requirements you will need a total of;
9"+22"+10"+153.125"+17"+22"+6"=239.125" or 6.6423 yards single width or 3.321 yards double width.

The difference in the two numbers is to allow you to adjust the spacing from the raw edge of the fabric to the center of the apron because you want to put a prominent stripe in the center and may have to add or subtract from your numbers to allow that. Then in the deep and reverse pleats you have to have some fudge factor to align the stripe you choose to pleat to aligned just as you do the apron center stripe.

Because you listed a waist that is larger than your hip you will make a kilt with no taper. It will hang vertically from your waist. But because your splits indicate that you may have reversed two numbers, I assume your waist is 41" and your hips 45"

Given these numbers you will have a pleat widths as follows;
If you use 23 pleats
At the hip the width will be 23"/23pleats=1"
At the waist the width will be 20"/23pleats=.8695"

If you use 24 pleats
At the hip, 23"/24pleats=.9583"
At the waist, 20"/24pleats=.8333"

If you use 25 pleats
.92" & .8 respectively.

But hey, you've got plenty of fabric to play with, so whack off 4 yards of double width and go to it.

I hope this helps.

[Barb T]

Steve's calculation is a good one and shows why you got 17 pleats in half the tartan. The sett of your tartan is relatively small (just over 6"), and because you're pleating to the stripe, you can get more pleats out of your tartan than you would pleating to the sett.

If you truly have 30 yards, the most sensible thing to do is hack off a piece 8 yards long and the right width and start laying it out from one end. Chances are you'll have some left over, but you won't have to put a join in the middle of the kilt.

Barb

[Thunderbolt]

Been a long few days.

I have to make some corrections..

First, I switched the measurements, Waist is 41 and hip is 45.

The math should still be about the same, right?

The tartan is a real tartan, I got a fantastic deal on it, as long as I bought the roll, so I did. The problem is that it is lightweight, 11oz. Not perfect for a kilt but good to learn with and plentiful.

So, if I cut a length of 8yds, when I go to find the center back, how will I know? Just figure a number of pleats first and use half that number for the center back pleat?

T.

[CameronTaylor]

The tartan is a real tartan, ....

Steve wants to know what flavor it is, by name.
The rest of us are curious too.


CT -

[Thunderbolt]

Steve wants to know what flavor it is, by name.
The rest of us are curious too.


CT -

Oh, sorry. It's Maclaine. The part I'm working with was the outer few layers that was in bad shape, snags, holes and such.

Anyway, I've got a bunch of it. We (the Clan) heard of a mill that was getting rid of it and they had several rolls of it. I got the smallest one and it was still a lot.

Speaking of which...This is double width, and the other selvage has the threads still attached, I'm assuming from were the shuttle simply went up to the next section. Can I just snip these off? Or should I not use the selvage altogether?

[Barb T]

So, if I cut a length of 8yds, when I go to find the center back, how will I know?

T.

Fold the tartan in half, and the center back is the middle of your length of tartan. Start counting pleats from the center mark toward the apron.

For 45" hips, and a split of 22/23, you'd have 30 pleats if you made each pleat about 3/4" at the hips. You don't want them any smaller than that at the hips, and bigger would be OK, too. I'd say, maybe 27 would be good. So, if you count more than 14 pleats from the center of the tartan toward the apron, you can just choose one of the pleats that isn't right at the half way mark to be the center back of your kilt. That just means that you'll have a little left over at the end of the whole length.

Barb

[ChattanCat]

Fold the tartan in half, and the center back is the middle of your length of tartan. Start counting pleats from the center mark toward the apron.

For 45" hips, and a split of 22/23, you'd have 30 pleats if you made each pleat about 3/4" at the hips. You don't want them any smaller than that at the hips, and bigger would be OK, too. I'd say, maybe 27 would be good. So, if you count more than 14 pleats from the center of the tartan toward the apron, you can just choose one of the pleats that isn't right at the half way mark to be the center back of your kilt. That just means that you'll have a little left over at the end of the whole length.

Barb

What Barb says. I bow to the expert kilt maker.