Can it be done? This would be MONSTER of a conversion

[NorCalPiper]

OK.....I've had something eating away at me for months now. A while back I picked up a casual kilt in a 16OZ tartan that I just wasn't satisfied with. There was nothing wrong with the kilt or construction, its just that the WAY it was constructed didn't appeal to me, so I passed it to my brother who wanted it and who is not quite the kilted snob as I am. anyway, he recently returned it since he has lost more weight and it won't notch tight anymore on him. My only real issue with this kilt is that the front apron is squared, not flared. This reminded me of how my mother makes her kilted skirts, and when I talked to her about it it, she said that this technique is used when less material is used. The first folded pleat and the last are deeper than normal, and when worn give an illusion of the front apron flaring out. The look just wasn't for me.

So.......I'm thinking that I can deconstruct this kilt and make a Box Pleat. I've never deconstructed a kilt to alter or remake, so I figured that as a kilt maker i should be able to do this. The yardage and the sett are perfect for this endeavor, but I just don't know if previous pleating will "line" the fabric, or if removing the machine stitching will weaken the fabric over all. Could I de-stitch the fabric and then soak it in cold water for a few hours then stretch and lay it out in the sun to dry, then press the material??? anyone ever done something like this? thanks for any help-Josh

[piperdbh]

Sounds like a WHOLE LOT of pressing to smooth out the original creases. Are the pleats cut out?

[davidlpope]

Check with Matt Newsome. IIRC, one of his early box-pleats was a casual knife-pleat kilt in LC's New York City tartan which he deconstructed and rebuilt. The finished pictures of that kilt looked great...

David

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Yeah, the hardest part about that conversion was ripping out all of the machine stitching. It was a nightmare. Pressing out all the former creases was a bear, as well, but nothing compared to pulling out all the machine stitching.

[Chas]

Surely the first thing is to look under the lining. If the pleats have been cut away to reduce bulk as they should be, then you are stuck with it as is.

Or am I mis-understanding this totally?

Regards

Chas

[CMcG]

slohairt (owner of Keltoi) started a thread a while ago about recycling women's tartan skirts to make a box pleat kilt:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...ed-kilt-18319/

I'm glad NorCalPiper brought it up again because I've been thinking about something similar. Last year, I got a great deal on a PV Maple Leaf tartan from MacHummel of Canadian Casual Kilts. It was a display model that was made for a rather skinny mannequin. After moving the buckles and straps, I can wear it, but I'm not happy with it.

I've been thinking about taking it apart and trying to convince my mother that she needs to start sewing again. Luckily for me, the pleats weren't cut out on this kilt!

[MacBean]

I've found a 2-3x magnifier really helpful in ripping out machine stitches from wool. It's amazing how much easier some tasks are when you can see what you are doing. The hand-eye are capable of absurd precision.

I've used one that goes around the head and turns one into a dork. The iluminated magnifiers on swing arms might work well. Even a pair of reading glasses from KMart could do the trick.

[Ryan Ross]

Check with Matt Newsome. IIRC, one of his early box-pleats was a casual knife-pleat kilt in LC's New York City tartan which he deconstructed and rebuilt. The finished pictures of that kilt looked great...

David

Yeah, the hardest part about that conversion was ripping out all of the machine stitching. It was a nightmare. Pressing out all the former creases was a bear, as well, but nothing compared to pulling out all the machine stitching.

Yep, that was a really excelent kilt, once Matt was done with it; worlds better than the "casual kilt" it started out as. I still feel bad about the trouble Matt had to go through with it, though. Sorry, Matt.

[piperdbh]

Sounds like it would be about as much fun as ravelling a felted bonnet and reknitting it, eh Ryan?

[Ryan Ross]

Sounds like it would be about as much fun as ravelling a felted bonnet and reknitting it, eh Ryan?

Hahahaha- Honestly, that's the first thing that popped into my mind!