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: A Summer Kilt For the Garden and Shop

Is there anything worn under the kilt? No, it's all in perfect working order -Spike Milligan

This is another kilt construction that was driven by the fabric. I happened on
to this polyester fabric somewhere and I cannot for the life of me remember
where. My penny pinching gene however remembers that it was one dollar a yard.
I can't buy shop rags for that so I could not pass it up.

It is very light camo polyester. It is so light that if you hold it up to the
light you can see right through. That's just right since in a minimum kilt
there will be three layers in back and two in front. I am not the authority on
what is minimum but that is my minimum. I have figured out how to make a kilt
like garment that has less since making this one and still look like a kilt but
that will come later in a Kilted Towel Post.

Front

In the not so good photo above of the front you can see the apron is not full
width. It is about 1/3 my waist measurement.  Contemporary kilts seem to go for
something around that number some are more narrow but this is what I liked best. It makes the pleats show from the front and makes for less interference of the cargo pockets with the pleats.

In the photo below the reverse box pleat is in the center. All the pleats are sewn down three inches from the bottom of the waistband. The outer edge of each pleat is sewn in as well but not the inner edge. That was not necessary with this fabric but I was having so much fun with the machine I couldn't stop myself. (I have resisted buying a nail gun because of that sort of compulsive excess.) It does make it truly wash and wear. I can take it out of the dryer, shake it out and wear it.

Tail Feathers

I made this kilt before I started losing my waistline. I had lost weight but my waist measurement did not show it yet. Once you get a gut it is damned hard to get rid of. Now I have lost enough that it is on the verge of getting lopsided. Oh well I made it and I can adjust it and gladly.


This photo taken in September 2009 was taken in the garden mainly to show one of the walking sticks I made from the fallen gifts from the trees caused by hurricane Gustav. It does show the length just below the top of the knee cap and the cargo pocket on my right side.

Damned long-haired hippy freak

This is the kind of work that this light weight kilt was made for. If you look close you can see the left side cargo pocket. I was cutting tin for the roof of the generator lean too and it was hot out. Even as lightweight as this kilt is it's still plenty hot. I am working on a design that vents better. The ideal would be to take it off when it gets that hot but then there would be visits by the authorities protecting innocent eyes from that spectacle and the paperwork just wouldn't be worth it. I will admit to having done that inside the shop when it was 95 degrees squared (meaning the humidity equals the temperature). 

The camo pattern hardly shows blood.

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.