X-Kilt: Sew Your Own, manual available for download

**12stones** · 20th June 08, 07:58 AM

How have I missed this for so long? Alan, these instructions are fantastic. I've briefly read through them and think that I can do this no problem. If I can repair a parachute, by God, I should be able to follow these excellent instructions. Now... just to get a hold of a sewing machine by this weekend. LOL.

**Alan H** · 20th June 08, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by 12stones

If I can repair a parachute, by God, I should be able to follow these excellent instructions. LOL.

If you can fix a parachute you DEFINITELY can make an X-Kilt!

**12stones** · 20th June 08, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by Alan H

If you can fix a parachute you DEFINITELY can make an X-Kilt!

Well, I got the material washed and dried. Will iron it tonight and then start marking tomorrow sometime. So, we'll see... Oh, it's a medium weight desert camo poplin. Can't wait to see.

Edit: Okay, couldn't wait till tomorrow to measure and mark. I start sewing tomorrow (if my neighbor lets me borrow sewing machine).

**meinfs** · 11th July 08, 02:10 AM

Thanks Alan H for a great resource.

I'm posting on here a link to my newly finished X-Kilt (with pictures).
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/m...859#post566859

**silverfoxx03** · 6th September 08, 03:09 PM

Link is dead!!!!!!!!??????

**Aldisimo** · 15th September 08, 11:52 PM

We cannot let this great set of instructions become lost to cyberspace!

No worries there. I'm sure there are copies on lots on computers [including both of mine] around the world!

**navysqueaker** · 29th September 08, 02:50 AM

urrghhh. . . so i decided i was going to make a kilt for my husband, cause you have to admit that guys are hot in kilts, well i guess they are to me. . . but anyways he gave me his measurements as 42 waist and 23 drop, so with the directions that i found on some site i started working on it to night. . . the guide said to take the waist measurment and divide it in to 3 sections, so 42inches goes down to 3 sections of 14 inch panels, and the pleats i did 3 inches forward then 2 inches back till i had 14 pleats . . . but when i started measuring i decided to double the aprons so its thicker knowing how my husband is going to treat it. . . so i have it all pinned and started sewing it and ran in to problems with my brand new sewing machine, i don't think i have it threaded right or whatever. . . so i gave up on that for the night but when my curiosity got the better of me and i decided to hold it up to see how it would look and fall it doesn't look like its big enough and i think with the extra inches i added it actually comes out to about 48 or 50 inches long but it doesn't look like it's gonna fit him. . . . any ideas if you can understand my babbling. . . and if anyone wants to come help me with my stupid sewing machine i'll have a nice cold pint for ya. Alba gu brath

**Alan H** · 29th September 08, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by navysqueaker

urrghhh. . . so i decided i was going to make a kilt for my husband, cause you have to admit that guys are hot in kilts, well i guess they are to me. . . but anyways he gave me his measurements as 42 waist and 23 drop, so with the directions that i found on some site i started working on it to night. . . the guide said to take the waist measurment and divide it in to 3 sections, so 42inches goes down to 3 sections of 14 inch panels, and the pleats i did 3 inches forward then 2 inches back till i had 14 pleats . . . but when i started measuring i decided to double the aprons so its thicker knowing how my husband is going to treat it. . . so i have it all pinned and started sewing it and ran in to problems with my brand new sewing machine, i don't think i have it threaded right or whatever. . . so i gave up on that for the night but when my curiosity got the better of me and i decided to hold it up to see how it would look and fall it doesn't look like its big enough and i think with the extra inches i added it actually comes out to about 48 or 50 inches long but it doesn't look like it's gonna fit him. . . . any ideas if you can understand my babbling. . . and if anyone wants to come help me with my stupid sewing machine i'll have a nice cold pint for ya. Alba gu brath

OK, Squeaky, listen up-....

A kilt is made up of three sections.

1. the under-apron
2. the over-apron
3. the pleats

The thing to do when making a kilt is focus on the guys rump measurement, not his waist measurement. If totally desperate, you can guesstimate that his rump will be about 8 inches bigger around than his waist, but that only works for a medium-trim gentleman, and there are a LOT of exceptions to that. Better would be to get out a tape measure and actually measure your man....how big around the rumpus, right at "privates" level, is your guy?

OK, so when you have that measurement, write it down, it's the most important measurement when making a kilt. Now, take that number and divide it in half. That will be his "half-rump". Write that down.

If he's POSITIVE that his actual waist measurement is 42 inches, and mind you, just because he wears pants with a 42 inch waist doesn't mean his waist is actually 42 inches, so you probably should measure him... then you'll need the half-waist measurement. figure that out and write it down.

OK, over-apron first.

At the waistband (top) the over-apron is going to be as wide as the half-waist measurement. Eight inches down from the top (more or less) the over apron is going to be as wide as the half-rump measurement. At the bottom of the kilt (did you hem it? ....down there) the over-apron will be about three to four inches wider than the half-waist measurement...though that will be evenly distributed between the two sides, right? That's called A-shaping.

OK, so make your mans over-apron about that big, like I described. This is important to do right, because a lot of how the kilt looks is determined by getting good, accurate measurements on the over-apron.

Now make a mongo-big (four to five inches deep) pleat on the left side of the over-apron. That's the transition into the pleated part of the kilt.

OK, the pleated part of the kilt is going to be as wide.... the same measurement as your mans half-rumpus measurement, plus an inch. Yeah, add an extra inch in there. OK so fold up your pleats and stitch 'em down or iron 'em in, or pin them in, whatever until the pleated part covers the distance of your mans rumpus plus an inch.

Now, the under-apron.

there should be on move "backwards-pleat"..or "reverse pleat" that faces the very last "regular pleat" that serves as the transition to the under apron. Make it 3-4-5 inches deep. Then make the under apron as wide as your mans half-rumpus, though if you run out of material and you can only make it 3/4 the width, that's OK. If you need to make it 1/2 the width, then you might get to see furry bits when the wind blows or when he sits down...and so might every other woman on Oahu, so there's limits here.

OK, does that help?

**Mipi** · 29th September 08, 03:05 AM

Waist measurment??

As far as I know, hip measuremnt is to be taken as more important measurment. Could that be a problem?

**Paul Henry** · 29th September 08, 03:47 AM

the waist measurement is divided into two ( very roughly at least ) to make the front and back of the kilt. The underapron is the same width as half of the waist. so in actual fact you will have 3 sections to a kilt, but the total length is about one and a half times the waist measurement.
It's a lot more complicated than that, which instructions are you using? if you tell us , I'm sure that some of us can help you through.
and good luck with making it.