Kilt making problems.

[Dixiecat]

As a garment sewer, I had a slight advantage going into making a kilt. I know how to hand sew, measure (twice ) and most importantly, how to curse when I have to un-sew 15 pleats when I make a mistake!

My first kilt was also a Dress Black Erskine, to mark pleats I didn't use chalk. I used those teeny tiny brass safety pins. You can get the pin exactly on the thread you need. I found chalk left too wide of a line. I too made a pattern for the apron, but I used my drafting paper (a roll of exam table paper), placed the pattern on the tartan, traced it off, then traced it again with thread. I also have a dressmakers curve which made making the curve from waist to hip easier. And since I have 13" difference between waist to hip, that curve was rather sharp.

When sewing pleats, I use betweens. These are generally quilting needles. While I can't claim to have seen Barb sew, I know you'd be in awe of a real quilter when they get going. A shorter needle helps when you want to sew faster. Unfortunately, the thicker the fabric, the longer and thicker the needle has to be. I've been working with 10oz - 12oz tartan which is generally used for dance kilts and I can get away with the shorter needle.

Lighting and experience is the key for seeing while sewing. My Ott is great, but can't beat sitting at a window in full sun. The experience helps in knowing where I'm sewing when using black on black. The more you sew, the better you'll get at 'seeing'.

[Barb T]

I find betweens to be just a little too short for stitching pleats, but this is just a preference. I do use a very fine needle - something like a between but a little longer. I find that, if I use a fatter needle, it kind of pushes the threads around, rather than piercing them, and you can't pleat as accurately. You think the needle is coming up and going down in a particular spot, but it isn't really, and things don't line up perfectly. I haven't had that trouble if I use a finer needle.

I do find that I put a lot of stress on a needle when I'm sewing pleats. After a kilt or two, my needle typically has a bend in it, and after several more, it will just snap in half at some point (metal fatigue, I assume).

[Tetley]

I find betweens to be just a little too short for stitching pleats, but this is just a preference. I do use a very fine needle - something like a between but a little longer. I find that, if I use a fatter needle, it kind of pushes the threads around, rather than piercing them, and you can't pleat as accurately. You think the needle is coming up and going down in a particular spot, but it isn't really, and things don't line up perfectly. I haven't had that trouble if I use a finer needle.

I do find that I put a lot of stress on a needle when I'm sewing pleats. After a kilt or two, my needle typically has a bend in it, and after several more, it will just snap in half at some point (metal fatigue, I assume).

I thought that bending the needle was just me. I'm glad to hear that it isn't. The first fine needle I tried bent after the first pleat and in the end I had to just a thicker one. I had put it down to too much brawn and not enough brains.

Mark

[Pleater]

So it isn't just the poor quality of the needles. As I sew left handed most of the time - I can use my right hand but not so accuratly, I assumed that a combination of my guitar playing, death grip on the neck, left hand strength and the supermarket bought needles was the cause of the bending and breakages.

I am awaiting new reading glasses, which the optician took great pains over finding the exact corrections that would give my brain the same view through both eyes. I then plan to do some machine sewing of pleats, as so far it has not been all that sucessful - mostly due to not being able to see what I am doing.

My own problem is not enough time, and I have cut down on the housekeeping far too much already...

Anne the Pleater

[Tetley]

My own problem is not enough time, and I have cut down on the housekeeping far too much already...

Anne the Pleater

Housekeeping? What's that?