Kilt to long. Help?

[The Wizard of BC]

It's not a silly question at all Sydie.

A Traditional Kilt is made with no rolled or folded hem. The bottom of the kilt uses the selvedge edge of the fabric as its hem.

When the Kilt is being made all the measurements are taken from the Selvedge and work up. The excess fabric is then removed from the top.

In older style military kilts all the fabric was the same width. (approx 27")with a selvedge on both sides. Each service member would be given a length of fabric and shown how to make their own kilt. Many kilts did not have the pleats in the Fell area cut away and essentially could be unstitched if necessary, the fabric reversed inside out and re-made. If the hem were torn or excessivly worn the fabric could be reversed top to bottom and the kilt re-made yet again.

In these military kilts the length from the soldiers knee cap to his natural waist would be taken and that length used to locate the top straps & buckles. Above the waist the kilt is allowed to taper back out to allow the kilt to fit above the waist.

Putting a rolled or folded hem into the bottom of an 18oz. kilt would cause the bottom to be really thick and cumbersome. It would lessen the swish of the pleats too.
A hem is sometimes put into a child's kilt to allow growth. They are also sometimes put into a dancers kilt that is made from light weight fabric to give the pleats so added weight. Other than these few times Traditional Kiltmakers do not fold or roll a hem.

The only other time I can think of when a hem is put into a kilt on purpose is when the fabric used for the kilt does not have a Kilt Selvedge. Some P/V fabrics have a fringed selvedge. Most Poly/Cotton fabrics do not have an attractive selvedge . Even some supposed kilt Wool has a less than attractive selvedge.

Not to sound harsh, but to a kiltmaker, seeing a kilt with a folded hem is a dead give away that some one took a short cut when altering the kilt or the person did not know how to take apart the kilt and do the alteration as a kilt maker would.

[Bugbear]

I came across this thread while looking into traditional kilts.
Jimmy Carbomb's thread '"Tank" Hems and Professional Altering'

It was very interesting. Not sure what to make of it...

* sorry, Never mind.

[Woodsheal]

Personally, I would carefully cut it off at the desired length and just leave it. In the "old days" when military uniforms were largely made of wool fabric, the hems and such were often left "raw edged", as heavy weight wool will hold a cut edge with little or no fraying. Or you could seal the cut edge with Jimmy's parafin, or something like this:
http://reprodepot.stores.yahoo.net/clfrch.html

[sydnie7]

It's not a silly question at all Sydnie. . . [snip]
Not to sound harsh, but to a kiltmaker, seeing a kilt with a folded hem is a dead give away that some one took a short cut when altering the kilt or the person did not know how to take apart the kilt and do the alteration as a kilt maker would.

Thanks for the gentle explanation (and I'll take good care of my sign, not get it wet or anything ).

[Arlen]

I got a military box pleat a while ago and had it taken up by a local alterations place.
Rather than doing a blind hem she just cut it all off at the desired length and it started to fray. And once it was cut off, there was nothing I could do.
I've got it coated with fray-check at the moment, but I will need to keep re-coating it until I can get my mother-in-law to put in a retaining stitch for me.

If you can't afford to get a Kiltmaker to alter it, take it to an alterations place you trust, measure the length you want about 6 times and make sure they either put in a blind hem or cut it with a reallllly good retaining stitch on the bottom.


Good luck!

[The Wizard of BC]

Arlen,
This is just one of those things we kilted must bear. Most folks today have never seen a Kilt Selvedge and have never even heard of it used as a finished edge to a Hem.
I've actually had what I thought were quite knowledgeable Tailors tell me that it is wrong and that my kilt will unravel if not hemmed.


We who wear The Kilt have to remember that we wear a style of clothing from the Victorian and Edwardian era. If you look at old drawings of men's clothing from that period the trousers were worn at the natural waist too.
We also have to remember that there was still hand looming of fabric done then too. A Kilt Selvedge was fairly common and people were used to making clothing with it. I've seen jackets and dresses that use the selvedge edge for the bottom.
Today no one has even seen a Kilt Selvedge outside of the Traditional Kilt World and just don't know how to deal with it. Once you cut off that finished edge there is nothing you can do to keep the fabric from fraying short of folding a Hem. And then the garment will be too short.

[Jaeson]

Arlen,
This is just one of those things we kilted must bear. Most folks today have never seen a Kilt Selvedge and have never even heard of it used as a finished edge to a Hem.
I've actually had what I thought were quite knowledgeable Tailors tell me that it is wrong and that my kilt will unravel if not hemmed.


We who wear The Kilt have to remember that we wear a style of clothing from the Victorian and Edwardian era. If you look at old drawings of men's clothing from that period the trousers were worn at the natural waist too.
We also have to remember that there was still hand looming of fabric done then too. A Kilt Selvedge was fairly common and people were used to making clothing with it. I've seen jackets and dresses that use the selvedge edge for the bottom.
Today no one has even seen a Kilt Selvedge outside of the Traditional Kilt World and just don't know how to deal with it. Once you cut off that finished edge there is nothing you can do to keep the fabric from fraying short of folding a Hem. And then the garment will be too short.

Ugh...i think i'll just sell it.

[ManuFortiDB]

Let's see. 35 inch waist. Heavyweight wool. 27 inch length. I've got your solution - send it to me; I'll give it a good home!

db

[Bugbear]

This thread makes me sad because I made an idiot out of myself... again.

[Jaeson]

Let's see. 35 inch waist. Heavyweight wool. 27 inch length. I've got your solution - send it to me; I'll give it a good home!

db

yours if you want it...it's in the for sale forum now.