the stabilizer inside a kilt

[Barb T]

This came up in another post, and I thought I'd start a new one with just this as the subject instead of burying this at the end of a couple of pages of replies. Someone asked about stabilizers and how big they are and so on. I finally managed to remember to take a picture of a kilt with the stabilizer strip sewn in. I've also included a closeup so that you can see how the stitching is done. Although there is a lot of stitching on the strip to stabilize everything, all of the stitching has to be done so that none of it goes through to the outside of the kilt. So the stitches go through all of the layers except the very outside one.

Basically, this is a strip of non-stretchy fabric that is put in along the waistline and underneath the canvas. It keeps the waistline from stretching and from too much stress being put on the pleat stitching when a kilt is buckled tightly.





Just as an aside - I've mentioned in other posts "all that internal construction" that adds to the cost of a properly-made kilt and that makes it hold its shape forever. This is an example of that kind of thing. It never shows, but it's crucial.

Barb