Kilt Sewing Instructions
Kilts are essentially one piece of fabric that wraps around the hips and waist. You then fasten the kilt together with buckles. The back of the kilt is what has the pleats and is what gives you that classic Scottish look. Buying traditional Scottish plaid material is very expensive so if you have never sewn a kilt then your best option is to buy inexpensive plaid until you have done a few kilts and know what you're doing. Kilts can be somewhat challenging, but with some patience, you should be able to complete your first quilt with ease.
Things You'll Need
- Plaid fabric
- Measuring tape
- Scissors
- Quilters pins
- Seam ripper
- Hand-sewing needle
- Two kilt buckles and straps
- Iron
- Ironing board
- Kilt pin (optional)
Instructions
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1
Measure the waist and widest part of the hips of the person that is going to wear the kilt with a tape measure.
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2
Take your hip measurement and multiply it by 3. For example, if your hips measure 50 inches, then you will need 150 inches of fabric. Take your total number of inches and divide it by 36. For example, you would take 150/36=4.1666. Round up to the nearest half yard. Add on another half yard to give you a little extra fabric to use.
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3
Measure the length from your waist to the middle of your knee. Add another inch to the length to account for the hem.
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4
Cut the fabric at the predetermined length from step 4. Set aside any extra fabric to use for the waistband later. Hem the bottom of the fabric. Fold over 1 inch and pin in place.
Pleating the kilt
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5
Make a double pleat. To do this, you need to lay out your fabric and look at the plaid square pattern that is closest to the right side. Take the left plaid square and bring it over to meet the edge of the next square. This will give you a fold, pin the fold in place up near the waist.
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6
Make the other part of the double pleat by looking at the square that is two squares over from the first pleat. Bring the left side of the square over to meet the right edge of the previous square. Pin the pleat in place up near the waist. The pleats that you have made will be the edge of your under apron.
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Hold the kilt up to whoever is going to wear it and match up the double pleats to the left hipbone. Insert a pin in the kilt over the other hipbone this will mark the spot where the under apron stops and the back of the kilt starts.
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8
Put pleats in the back of the kilt and to do this you need to fold the material along the plaid lines. Pin the pleats in place at the waist. Stop making the pleats when you have pleats going from hipbone to hipbone in the back of the kilt.
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9
Have whoever is going to be wearing the kilt put it on carefully because of the pins. Put the pleats in the back and make sure that the unpleated material overlaps with the under apron. Trim the front apron if you need to at the hip area. Leave enough material so that you can make a hem.
Sewing the waistband
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10
Cut a strip of fabric from the leftover material. Make the strip 3 inches longer than the person's waist that is wearing the kilt. Try to match the pattern on the waistband with the pattern on the front apron.
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11
Fold the waistband together with the wrong sides together (the brighter color on the outside) and press the crease flat.
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12
Lay the folded waistband along the front apron and the back of the kilt. If necessary, make the pleats smaller until they fit in the waistband. This will make the waist smaller and the hips wider.
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13
If you made the pleats smaller, remove the waistband and press the pleats again. Take your needle and thread and baste the pleats in place the whole way around to the hips. When you're basting, make sure that you don't get extra material caught in the stitching.
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14
Press the pleats in place once more, then with matching thread, machine sew the pleats in place from hip to hip. When your done stitching the pleats, you can remove the basting stitches.
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15
Place the waistband face down along the edge of quilt over the front apron and then over the pleats in the back. Pin the waistband in place try to make the patterns match up if possible. Stitch the waistband in place. Fold the waistband over the edge of the kilt and hand stitch the waistband into the inside of the kilt.
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Sew your buckles onto the waist and hip area of the kilt. When you are finished try the kilt on and make sure that it fits correctly.
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References
- Photo Credit A Scottish Piper image by Ray Carpenter from Fotolia.com
