If you’re looking into buying a kilt or you already own one, you may have found out a little too late that you’re not happy with the length or size.
That’s really frustrating. We understand that. Because as good as you may look, how you feel in the kilt is the most important part. Kilts have always been free and unrestricted. They aren’t meant to be a hassle of cloth.
On the other hand, you may just want to add a unique flair to your kilt! Make it stand out from your buddies, and feel cool among everyone else. That’s just as valid of a reason.
In either case, you are most likely looking for a way that you can easily customize your kilt for both length and size. You’re in the right place to find out. We’ll give you all the information you need to succeed in your customization and perhaps go into more details than you’re asking for, so bear with us.
If you’re ready to start the process, then let’s not waste anymore of your time!
How to change the length of a kilt
First, let me say that after looking through some online forums and other websites, I really haven’t come across much information on this topic. This hopefully means this article will come in handy for many of you.
However, I also noticed some conversations about trying to re-selvage a kilt (most likely to shorten it a couple of inches). If you aren’t aware, selvage refers to the edge on either side of a flat-knitted or woven fabric fashioned to prevent it from raveling. You can think of that border around the bottom of your jeans.
Are you with me so far? Okay, well, the idea on the forum was basically to undo the selvage, shorten it, then re-selvage it. Let’s talk about why that wouldn’t work.
The selvage on a piece of fabric is the edge of the fabric where the weaver originally turned the shuttle and sent it back across the fabric again. So, if you look closely, you'll see that thread actually loops around the very last warp thread and goes back again. Unfortunately, that means you can't just cut the selvage off and re-selvage it.
But here’s what you can do!
You see, lots of kilts, even heavy ones, have hems. If it’s done correctly and pressed well, no one will be able to spot that your kilt has a hem. To do a proper job, you need to take out the stitching at the bottom of the apron and under apron edges, turn up a hem, and then stitch the apron and under apron edges.
Take note that the hem isn't turned up evenly everywhere. The under apron is turned up about an inch more than the rest of the kilt at the very left-hand edge, tapering to the standard hem depth about 9" from the under apron edge. That keeps the corner of the under apron from sagging below the apron edge and showing.
Also, the inside point of the very first pleat next to the apron edge gets turned up an additional half an inch or so, tapering to the normal hem depth where the pleat shows, again so that the point won't hand down and show behind the apron.
Once the hem is turned up and stitched, be sure to baste the pleats closed before pressing so that you don't muck up the pleats when you press them. Be sure to press both sides of the kilt.
But, before you go to all the trouble to make a hem in your kilt, make sure that it is too long– like ultra sure. Many people wear their kilts too low, and they seem too long but aren't.
The center of the buckle of your kilt should be at your true waist (roughly your belly button), and the top edge of the kilt extends above your waist by about two inches in a standard kilt. That means a kilt properly worn is buckled high and tight. If you instead buckle it on low and loose, it can hang down two inches further than it should.
Just be sure that you really have to or really want to hem your kilt before going through all the trouble.
How to change the general size
Now, if your issue is with the actual waste of the kilt, there’s an easier fix than hemming your kilt.
I’m sure whether you have to hem your kilt or not, you’re happy to hear you won’t be suffering through that much work for this part.
If you’re losing weight or you have already, then resizing your kilt is an easy task. Simply reposition the buckles to the hole that fits you best. However, if you’ve lost a substantial amount of weight, around six inches or so (congrats!), you may have to do something else.
Assuming the last whole on your kilt doesn’t fit you or your sure it won’t soon, you can go to a tailor and easily have them take the buckles off with a seam ripper and move them towards the under apron. Just ensure that they also move the other side of the buckle toward the opposite end of the under apron.
How do you feel? Hopefully, you can begin working on your new kilt size as soon as possible! In the meantime, If you have more questions about how to stylize or customize your kilt, we have your back! Check out the rest of our website here!
