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Posted by Kate XXXXXX on March 11, 2009, 6:25 pm
BEI Design wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> Kate XXXXXX wrote:
>> BEI Design wrote:
>> AAARRRGGGHHH!!! A break is good!
>
> Yes it was! I was able to get lots done last night.
>
>> Otherwise, it looks like all is going well.
>
> Yup. Just returned from lunch with DD, so I'll get back to
> it.
>
>> Just a quick question: why are yo cutting the fabric out
>> of the back of the pleats? Not the traditional way to do
>> this, according to the kiltmaker I had a swift tutorial
>> from In Edinburgh many years ago, and not what was done
>> to a great uncle's WW I Black Watch kilt, which later had
>> a bullet hole darned before being unpicked and cut in
>> half, joined up the middle, and used as a car rug for 40
>> years by my grandparents! (The hole was the closest the
>> great uncle came to being wounded: one of a very few very
>> lucky ones... )
>> No criticism intended: just curious... I'm thinking that
>> because this is a dance kilt, it may be due to keeping
>> her cooler.
>
> None taken. ;-) I suspect the cutting of the hip pleats
> evolved for dancers into something a little more comfortable
> and less heavy/hot. By the time one pleats-to-the-sett, and
> tapers from the hip to the waist, there are at a minimum,
> *eight layers* of tartan at the waist. Not only hot, but
> very bulky. Our dancers are almost never dancing outside in
> the cold winds of the moors of Northumberland. Much more
> likely to be dancing in heated indoor venues or outside at
> Highland Games in July when the temps reach 90 degrees
> Fahrenheit.
>
> My textbook for making kilts (this is my second one) is "The
> Art of Kiltmaking":
> http://www.tartantown.com/art_kiltmaking.html
> "Kiltmaker and award-winning educator Barbara Tewksbury has
> teamed up with legendary kiltmaker Elsie Stuehmeyer to bring
> you a book that teaches the traditional kiltmaking methods
> that Elsie learned 50 years ago as an apprentice and
> kiltmaker with the renowned firm Thomas Gordon's of
> Glasgow."
> If you could see a close-up of that cover illustration, you
> could see the cut pleats, steeking, waist stay, tailor's
> basting, as well as the strap buttonhole. That's how my
> kilt looks at the moment.
>
> I figure Stuehmeyer knows her stuff, and the local
> Scotswoman who mentored me through the first one used
> identical methods. She makes the kilts for many of the local
> Highland dancers.
>
> Beverly
>
>
There are more ways of skinning a cat... :)
The gent I was taking a sneaky lesson from generally made army uniform
kilts. Many 'day wear' kilts were in 16oz tartan, and for men. His
view was that taking the excess out of the back weakened the weave, and
these things got plenty of wear! They get dragged through all sorts,
from Highland Games type events to parades in horizontal sleet... Dress
tartan is much lighter (10oz, typically), and light enough that (on a
fella at least!) there was no need to cut the back out of the pleats.
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!
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Posted by BEI Design on March 11, 2009, 7:30 pm
Kate XXXXXX wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> BEI Design wrote:
> > Kate XXXXXX wrote:
> > > BEI Design wrote:
<snip>
> There are more ways of skinning a cat... :)
> The gent I was taking a sneaky lesson from generally made
> army uniform kilts. Many 'day wear' kilts were in 16oz
> tartan, and for men. His view was that taking the excess
> out of the back weakened the weave, and these things got
> plenty of wear! They get dragged through all sorts, from
> Highland Games type events to parades in horizontal
> sleet... Dress tartan is much lighter (10oz, typically),
> and light enough that (on a fella at least!) there was no
> need to cut the back out of the pleats.
After the excess is cut from the pleats (from one inch above
the bottom of the fell to the waist), the waistline is
stabilized with 1.25 to 1.5 inch cotton twill tape, sewn in
X stitches every inch or so top and bottom. Then the entire
upper pleat area is re-enforced with hair canvas, darted to
follow the curve from hip-to-waist, and stitched with
buttonhole thread in multiple (at least 4, often 7) rows of
tailor's stitches. And the entire top (pleats and aprons)
is then lined with Kona cotton, which further protects the
underside of the pleats. Trust me, these kilts also come in
for a lot of fairly rough handling, they are hauled from
place to place, danced in vigorously, and probably tossed on
the floor more often then not.
Beverly
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Page 3 of 3 << first < 1 2 3
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>> BEI Design wrote:
>> AAARRRGGGHHH!!! A break is good!
>
> Yes it was! I was able to get lots done last night.
>
>> Otherwise, it looks like all is going well.
>
> Yup. Just returned from lunch with DD, so I'll get back to
> it.
>
>> Just a quick question: why are yo cutting the fabric out
>> of the back of the pleats? Not the traditional way to do
>> this, according to the kiltmaker I had a swift tutorial
>> from In Edinburgh many years ago, and not what was done
>> to a great uncle's WW I Black Watch kilt, which later had
>> a bullet hole darned before being unpicked and cut in
>> half, joined up the middle, and used as a car rug for 40
>> years by my grandparents! (The hole was the closest the
>> great uncle came to being wounded: one of a very few very
>> lucky ones... )
>> No criticism intended: just curious... I'm thinking that
>> because this is a dance kilt, it may be due to keeping
>> her cooler.
>
> None taken. ;-) I suspect the cutting of the hip pleats
> evolved for dancers into something a little more comfortable
> and less heavy/hot. By the time one pleats-to-the-sett, and
> tapers from the hip to the waist, there are at a minimum,
> *eight layers* of tartan at the waist. Not only hot, but
> very bulky. Our dancers are almost never dancing outside in
> the cold winds of the moors of Northumberland. Much more
> likely to be dancing in heated indoor venues or outside at
> Highland Games in July when the temps reach 90 degrees
> Fahrenheit.
>
> My textbook for making kilts (this is my second one) is "The
> Art of Kiltmaking":
> http://www.tartantown.com/art_kiltmaking.html
> "Kiltmaker and award-winning educator Barbara Tewksbury has
> teamed up with legendary kiltmaker Elsie Stuehmeyer to bring
> you a book that teaches the traditional kiltmaking methods
> that Elsie learned 50 years ago as an apprentice and
> kiltmaker with the renowned firm Thomas Gordon's of
> Glasgow."
> If you could see a close-up of that cover illustration, you
> could see the cut pleats, steeking, waist stay, tailor's
> basting, as well as the strap buttonhole. That's how my
> kilt looks at the moment.
>
> I figure Stuehmeyer knows her stuff, and the local
> Scotswoman who mentored me through the first one used
> identical methods. She makes the kilts for many of the local
> Highland dancers.
>
> Beverly
>
>