Experimenting with a demin kilt. Help keep me motivated!

[JDaugherty]

Welp. finally starting on a project i've put off for too long. I'm going to attempt to turn 4 pairs of old jeans into 1 acceptable Kilt. I'm not sure it'll come out great, or even acceptable; but I'll be damned if I'm not gonna give it the ol' college try. I've scoured the web, and a few posts here in xmarks, and I think I can manage to make it at least an acceptable casual/everyday wear one. two pairs of the jeans are the same shade, the other two are almost the same shad as each other, but far lighter than the first two. So i'll have to use a few tricks and a bucket of creativity but I've got some ideas and it might..MIGHT jsut turn out interesting, origional and wearable. I'm posting on here cause 1.) I have trouble staying motivated, but if people are expecting updates, it helps me stay on track and 2.) in case i hit a snag and need advice; or if anyone has done this and has any random tidbits of advice.
I'll try to remember to add pictures whenever I reach various stages. So here's the first picture:

I'm starting by removing pockets/belt loops, etc to leave nothing but denim material. These are the foru pairs of jeans (and my dog Misty who wants to "help").
IMAG0224.jpg

So..here it goes. wish me luck *turns on music to jam to for what will probably be all night long stitch-removal*

[Hawk]

Good luck....give it a solid, good try.......(hearing cheering in background)

Hawk

[Pleater]

The backing only needs to be behind the free part of the pleats and maybe a half inch taller for the seam. The rest of the way up to the waist can be denim joined together using tape as a backing and joining material.


So - if you need a standard 'drop' of 24 inches and the fell is to be - 8 inches you would need to have backing material for the 16 inches from bottom of fell to lower edge PLUS any hem and about half an inch at the top to hold the folds in place.

You'll need something 24 inches for the under apron pleats and under apron as they are open waist to lower edge, plus hem and top edge, but you can always cut the fabric into 26/27 inch strips and rotate it 90 degrees from the pleats.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[JDaugherty]

Wow, that pot of coffee must have hit my brain just right. I actually followed that perfectly on the 2nd read-through. You, my dear moderator, are a genius; and have solved my biggest/most confusing issue. You rock! Gonna get started on it within the next hour. Hopefully my next post will be of some furthur-in-progress pictures! Thanks again Pleater!

[JDaugherty]

Progress is a little slow going today; but I did cut the strips of denim and measure out the extra material i found. IMAG0225.jpg Took a picture of the cut strips on top of the one peice of extra material i've got for the pleats. Per pleater's suggestion, i made sure to cut a 24inch peice for the under apron pleat. unfortunately it didnt leave me with a ton. what I have left is 30 inches across and 19 inches tall. lol But as they say, where there's a will....
I still need to clean up the denim strips, iron out the creases they had and start courting the sewing machine. >.< I hope to get at least a little more done tonight.

[Hawk]

Are you shooting for something like this JDaugherty?

Hawk

[ratspike]

I can't imagine 4 pairs of jeans getting you enough usable fabric for a kilt unless they're pretty big jeans. IIRC Paul Henry did a kilt like this but I don't know if it ever got finished. You might check his Facebook page or blog for photos.

[JDaugherty]

hey thanks guys. i'll check out paul's and see if he ever finished it. I know i ran across it somewhere.

Also- LOL posted on fb about starting this project and IMMEDIATELY get told 'you can't make a kilt out of denim, that's just a skirt" XD people i swear.

[Theyoungkiltman]

I would use about 42 in waist jeans or as close to that as you can get. Unless you do about 1/4 pleats I can't see a satisfying kilt coming from 4 pairs. Good luck!

[Pleater]

I wonder if using the denim to make the outside of the pleats and the apron would result in something more flexible - the swish of the pleats being such a basic thing with kilts.

It would also take much less denim.

If you take a length of fabric to form the inner fold of the pleats below the fell - either something blue or black - or a bright pattern, then cut strips, sew them together to form the fell and the apron and then add the pleated fabric either in strips or top stitch the denim down onto it. Make the deep under apron pleats full length, waist to hem for free movement and make the under apron too.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: