Old Fools Kilts: How To Convert a Traditional Casual Kilt to a Work Kilt

Now was that not easy?
Cheap too. Cost two dallah American ($2,00 USD) at the thrift store for the carpenters pouch with belt.

I really bought it because the belt size is a maximum of 38. I haven't seen that number in years so when I saw that I had to try it on. It fit. So, not trusting the people in Chinaland to label things accurately, I measured it. They were right on. I took that as a sign from the numerous Gods of Vanity that I should have it.

The kilt is a Wallace from Stillwater Kilts. http://www.stillwaterkilts.com/ Made of Acrylic in Pakistan by slave labor. Acrylic is a comfortable wool like material that burns like a fuse when exposed to open flame. It's machine washable and dries quickly. Stillwater sells them cheap. They only come in one length (24 inch) and I have to hem them to 19 inches. I make a number of other modifications while I'm at it.  Obviously a person of my small stature is not among what is considered normal height. Oh well, I've never thought that being normal is necessarily a good thing.

Old Fools Kilts: Kilted Old Man in the Garden

or  Is that a topless fat bearded old lady out there?

This my home grown polyester camo work kilt. It is worn almost daily. It is a good thing it is wash and wear.

The shoulder bag is twenty-five cent canvas bag I picked up at the Thrift Store.  It carries all the small garden tools that I use everyday. I wear it most often like a messenger bag.

Blogger has gone stupid on me and I'm not going to waste one second trying to fix something that is being fixed everyday by so called geniuses. To me it is broken and it is easier to move elsewhere than fix it.

I figured out who went stupid and it was not You Tube. My apologies to You Tube for shooting my mouth off, or in this case my keyboard off, before finishing the editing process. I am looking forward to the day when my PC can determine that I am being an idiot and heads me off.

Old Fools Kilts: Kilted at the VA

Sewing is part of my philosophy of grow your own, make your own and roll your own in everything you do. If it doesn't turn out well then at least you will have a new appreciation of what you buy.      ~Tom Swaim

A year ago on St. Patrick's (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig) day I wore this get up to my yearly visits to the VA.  It was a hit. I know that  Kilts are not Irish but the peasantry does not so it seemed appropriate. It was a hit with the staff but the other veterans did not know what to do. I was in and out so fast that they were still looking at their feet when I left.

Except for the vet crossing the parking lot who stumbled over his own jaw there were no fatalities or injuries.

The staff, both mail and female, reacted with enthusiasm and we "passed a good time". Most of the vets seemed to be of Vietnam vintage, are conservative and it is my impression that they think anything in a skirt should be given two dolla' and taken to the back room for three minutes of pleasure. No one made any offers. I know it was not the big mustache that put them off because I've seen them bigger than mine on some select ladies in this area.

This year I went naked for my check up, that is without kilt. It wasn't near as much fun.

The kilt may not be traditionally Irish but the Scots are traditionally Irish, whether they like it or not, and the blood runs both ways. Besides in times "Grand  Scheme of Things" the modern Kilt is a new thing even to them

The Black Watch kilt in the photo is a very inexpensive mail order acrilic (fake wool) of very light weight with knife pleats.  I buy them for cheap from Stillwater Kilts then sew down the pleats, taper the waist if necessary and hem them to fit my height. This one has had an added pocket under the front apron as seen in this post in April of 2011. Nothing ever fits me off the rack.

If you outgrow your clothes when you gain weight do you ingrow your clothes when you lose weight? If so then that is what happened here. It fit fine when I wore it to the VA but I tried it on a few days ago and could not wear it.  There is a little leeway with kilts but I had lost girth that was outside the envelope. I took care of that over the last two days.

Here it is on my makeshift work table which is my settee. This doesn't look like much but it was quite a job. It takes longer to take it apart than to put it back together. I have a whole new appreciation for re-tailoring clothes. I took six inches or so out of the waist and now it fits perfect.

I have another that needs attention but it is a reverse kingussie and I sure do dread it. It is symmetrical so it is going to require removing material from both sides which will require a bigger tear down. When I made it I did so with an eye to the future because I was and still am determined to get rid of the beer gut. It is still going to require a major tear down but the advantages to making your own clothes is "if you made it you can fix it".

Someday when I have it on I will try to get a photo.  It looks feels and smell like a kilt so I guess it is one unless I run into the kilt police.



Daylight Saving Time: Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.
— Anonymous

Old Fools Kilts: Sewing Is Winter Work or excuses for having all this fabric laying around.

Sewing is just not summer work for me. It should be because I'm stuck inside quite often because of rain, heat and humidity but I can't seem to get enthusiastic about sewing until it is cold.

I have several projects in queue but in no special order. The picture at the top is an ancient Egyptian kafkan and I have a vertically striped piece of fabric that I'm going to try to make it out of.  I think however that I will use a basic Roman tunic pattern since they come out about the same. It will be near ankle length since it is for winter time sitting on my butt at the computer.  It will probably look more Moracan than Egyptian.  I used a floor length plaid flannel night gown and alternately a huge 5x T shirt for that purpose last year (not at the same time)  and it worked quite well.

<--Sort of like this only a little longer.

I acquired two pieces of 11 ounce wool in light grey this summer for a ridiculously low price ($1.50 usd) that when pieced together will make a nice knock around casual kilt providing I don't find anymore moth bites out of it.  I'm going to try slash pockets as well.

The leftovers from the last wool kilt are enough for another but I'm holding off until I lose more inches in my waist and ass. At the rate I'm going that may be after I'm dead.

The leftovers from my polyester everyday very light weight work kilt are more than enough to make another. I made the one I have in a reverse kingussie (all pleats point to the center of the back) and I have lost enough weight to have to modify it slightly. The problem with the kingussie is that to make it smaller it has to be done on both sides in order to keep the apron centered in front and the center pleat centered in back. All kilts for my personal use will be left to right knife pleats from now on.  Easier to make and easier to modify. The added bonus is my prehensile butt cheeks don't seem to grab at the fabric so much when I stand up. An experiment in large removable cargo pockets is on the agenda.

Right now I'm trying to get a few plants in for Autumn and gathering firewood for this winter.

I find myself quite often these days just gazing into the distance.

Later.

Old Fools Kilts: Kilted After Bath Towel

I have been using towels as lounging sarongs for as so long I can't remember when it started. Near as I can tell it started when I really started spending a lot of time on a boat of my own.  When we were in Baja Sur I even attended a yachty get together in one wrapped as a pareu and wearing a top hat. That particular one was acquired in the mid 1960's in my hippy days and I finally wore it out after about 30 years. They just don't make anything to last. (Sarong and Pareu are essentially the same just different names from different localities.)

This after bath towel was made from two heavy large bath towel that were on sale at the Dollar General. I bought them for the color and they are too heavy for this application but they are what I had at the time. I intend to do it again someday but I will use really light terry cloth next time.

This side view shows how shallow the pleats are. Unlike a real kilt I wanted as little overlap of material as possible so the pleats were made shallow and wide. No effort was made to iron in creases.

A pocket of course. Every boy needs a pocket for his pocket knife, rocks, frogs and whatever else he may find. It was on the other side but since this towel is held together with Velcro and I carry a camera and tools sometimes it would literally fall off.  By moving the pocket to the opposite side away from the fastening I hope I have corrected that.

Utilikilts

Front view. You can see the outline of where the pocket used to be.

I made no effort to make this into anything but a  comfortable kilt like towel wrap.

It is extremely comfortable winter and summer although in the summer it is a little heavy. I have a couple of after bath towel wraps that are without the pleats and lighter weight that are worn like a pareu with Velcro closings but because of the pleats this is more comfortable.  It feels like nothing is covering your butt at all. Every time I put it on I think of what someone said about Utilikilt "It's like being naked with pockets".

Old Fools Kilts: My Kilted Shadow

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of
a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the
grassand loses itself in the sunset.. Blackfoot proverb

With wine glass in one hand and camera in the other I'm off to a sunny corner of the garden for sunset cocktails with my bride and the kittens.

Old Fools Kilts: Grodie Goose Kilt or Re-purposing military uniforms into something useful

I wrote this to the xmarks the scot forum about the Grody Goose kilt I found on Ebay in June of 2008. It was my first kilt purchase. They are made and sold by people that make them from surplus BDU's (battle dress uniform). As far as I am concerned this is in the spirit of "beating swords into plowshares". A concept I particularly like. It would be nice if their source of material dried up but that will never happen. There has always been war and there will always be war until the last man standing declares himself the winner and dies. Then there will be no more war.

June 1, 2008
I have been wearing one of these almost daily for the last three weeks while gardening and working in my shop. I have found it to be very satisfactory for that. Mine has a label that says “Coat, Hot Weather”, “woodland camouflage” and “battle pattern” plus washing instructions. It had a bunch of insignias with it that were air force and I found a dog tag in a pocket that is also air force. It was well broken in therefore soft and comfortable. Washing has been a snap. Throw it in the wash then the drier put it on and go back to work.

Front – button closure

Whether it's a kilt or not depends on how fussy you are. I ain't fussy. If it's a skirt made for a man and has pleats in the back it's a kilt. My 15 year old grandson and his friends recognized it as a kilt. The closure is buttons in the front a little to the right of center. Pockets button and all buttons are hidden.

Back with one of the pleats turned back

Mine is pleated in the inverted Kingussie style (I believe that's what it's called). In any event it has four wide pleats either side of a inverted box pleat all pointing to the back. That is nice in the garden and the shop as it doesn't snag on things. It is very full, free and comfortable. It is definitely contemporary and casual. It is as formal as a man that only wears shoes and socks in the dead of winter and hasn't owned a tie since the early eighties needs. Come to think of it I haven't seen my shoes since winter before last. Washed and touched up with steam iron and this kilt can go anywhere a Utilikilt can.

Delivery time was a little over a week and when I inquired by email I got a prompt reply. Very satisfactory. I asked for a 19 inch length and that's what I got. My only complaint is the hem in the back was not even. The pleats on either side of the center box pleat were 1 ½ to 2 inches longer that the center or the front. I corrected that myself.

This last picture is of a belt loop. It is very rough and barely wide enough for a 1 3/8 belt. For the money I'm not complaining. It is not a slick and polished garment but it suits a man that's not slick and polished.

Here it is nearly three years later and I still wear this thing. Somwhow it just seems the right thing to wear in the shop or garden. It really is too hot when the temperature and humidity really get up there but other than that no complaints. I have since made another much lighter wash and wear kilt in camo for really hot weather. More on that one later.

The panel to the far right is the addition of the under apron

I did make some changes since then. I've lost a bit of weight and so I have disassembled the waist band somewhat and taken it in. The trouble with a kingussie is that unlike knife pleats that you can just wrap around further as you lose weight a kingussie needs to be centered in the back. After losing an inch or two it's rip those seams out time. I did that and sewed down some pleats while I was at it. I redid the belt loops and in general just made it fit better.

I also added an under apron (see right side of photo above). The white patch is Velcro.  Now I only button the top two buttons and it wears like a regular kilt. It makes it a lot easier to sit or squat with some decorum.

This thing is durable in fact it is practically bulletproof. I can see why the military uses it. My only complaint is that it is extremely hot. This fabric does not breath at all. I actually had to rig a fan on the floor to blow up my alley last summer while working on bikes. Iraq in summer in this stuff has to be a bit of hell.  I like the pockets. It beats having to wear an apron.