A box on the Doorstep

[SteveB]

I left the basting stitches in and strapped this work of art on my fat body. It fit like it was a part of me. The waist buckled in quite comfortably, and the two inches above the top strap flared out on the sides quite nicely to fit with my ribcage. There is but little flare in the rear or on the front apron, a sign of true craftspersonship. The fell stops at exactly the proper level on my backside, and the taper is perfect. The length is exactly where it should be, the top of my knees. The outer apron sits nice and flat, as well as begins and ends at the middle of my sides. ( 9 and 3 o'clock)
It is now time to sit in the chair with fine tools to remove the basting stitches as this kilt is definitely a keeper.
For the suspense section, a few more nice details:



The under apron liner with the USA Kilts logo, and the "Dry Clean Only" tag. This liner floats on the interfacing.



The rear lining also floats on the interfacing, and is stitched to the pleats just below the cut away section. This helps the kilt "sit" on top of my fat backside without distorting the sett.



The under apron is only tapered for about 8 inches. This is not a bad thing as it sits well out of sight when worn. Most of my kilts are tapered for 11 or twelve inches.

I had requested the kilt pleated to sett. This is my preferred way of displaying the tartan. In examining the 28 pleats before removing the basting, I found only one pleat where the sett had even a hint of spread.
I should mention that as the tartan has black as one of the colours, the black thread used is very invisible where the bottom of the fell is double lock stitched.

After removing the basting stitches, some more examination is in order.



The pleats are about 3-1/3" deep with 5/8" width.



I had mentioned one pleat having a very slight hint of spread. This lead me to the seam for binding the two halves of the tartan together. It is on under pleat number 14. The tartan is very well aligned. The picture does not show it as well as it actually appears. There is a slight offset due to the angle the fabric is sitting. I did not want to flatten the pleats to show it any better. The stitching on the "outside" appears to be by machine, but on closer examination is really an accurately spaced hand stitch.



Inside the kilt pleats is this interesting display of what appeared at first to be rough cloth edge. Nearly invisible are binding stitches the whole length of the outer edge of the two pieces of fabric.

Even more to come...........

[SteveB]

I should thank Barb T here for her fine book The Art of Kiltmaking. This book has been very useful in evaluating the kilts that I own.

Now this is a review of the kilt and the kilt only. I am wearing the shirt that I have had on from work today, and I have not any hose, belt, sporran or kilt pin on. At a later time, I will post pictures of this kilt as part of my carefully planned traditional kit.



The front apron flares perfectly with my body.



The right side sits at three o'clock, all on its own.



The obligatory Hamish pose. I really should use my walking stick instead of the side of the T.V. cabinet.



The pleat shot. The tartan shows its sett very well in the pictures, it is harder to see it when you are close to it. The center pleat sits perfectly in the center of my backside.



This close up of the side straps shows how the apron taper fits my body perfectly.

A special thanks to Rocky for this fine kilt. This kilt was not sewn by Rocky or Kelly, but by a certified professional kiltmaker in Scotland. The kilt is 16 oz wool, and used up well over eight yards to get around my fat body. This is a true TANK.
Thank you again Rocky and Kelly.
Cheers

[GMan]

Very nice!