Kilts

As can be seen on my main website , I have, since September of last year, put a hold on taking new kilt orders.  The primary reason is to allow me to catch up on my large backlog of orders.  For some time, the rate of new kilt orders coming in has outstripped the rate at which I can make them, leading to extended wait times for my customers (which neither they nor I are happy about). This temporary hold is allowing me to remedy the situation by working through current outstanding orders without new orders being added to the back end of my order queue faster than I can turn new kilts out. So far it is working.  My kilt order queue is currently stands at 18 kilts.  For years now it has been in excess of 30 kilts at any given time, so I am quite happy to see the smaller number. However, it is slow going.  As most of my followers are aware, kilt making is not my full time job. While a full time kilt maker may be able to complete a kilt in 2 or 3 working days, my wor...

I took delivery of a length of custom woven MacMillan tartan today, in the historic Wilsons of Bannockburn color pallette.  Nice!  

As usual, I've been too busy to blog much lately, but wanted to share these photos to show that we're still busy creating and shipping out some wonderful and unique Highland dress items! Here are a pair of Colquhoun kilts -- oddly enough, made for two different, unrelated clients.  The one on top is reproduction Colquhoun from DC Dalgliesh.  It's a four yard box pleated kit that shipped out with a matching tartan waistcoat (not pictured).  Then below it is the cloth for an ancient Colquhoun kilt.  The cloth was supplied by the client, but I believe it was Lochcarron woven.  That was made up into a six yard box pleated kilt. The above two photos are of a four yard box pleated kilt in the 42nd band tartan, Wilsons of Bannockburn historic colors.  This tartan is the same as the Black Watch, with the black replaced with red.  I love the pleat detail shot, which shows the nearly invisible hand stitching! Let's not forget about the knitwear!  Here is a ...

When deciding to spend their hard earned money with any business, small or large, one factor that potential customers often consider is communication.  How easy will it be for me to communicate any questions or concerns with this business?  How open will they be to resolving any issues that I may have?  This is a very important concern, so I wanted to devote this blog post to the level of communication that my kilt clients may expect from me. Communication is one factor of my business that is simultaneously a strength and a weakness.  What do I mean by that? Strength: When you communicate with me, you are communicating directly with the person who is making your kilt.  There is no middle man to go through.  I am actually the one cutting the cloth, stitching the pleats, and so forth - my hands are on every part of the process up to and including putting the mailing label on the final package.  So you will be talking with someone who has first hand knowl...

My client for this Macbeth tartan kilt (four yard, box pleated) requested that I take some "in progress" photos as I was making it.  I was happy to oblige.                      

Just a few snapshots of some things that have been keeping us busy lately. First some hand knit small argyle pattern cuffs for these House of Cheviot kilt hose, by my lovely wife. And a six yard box pleated Morrison tartan kilt I just shipped off to its new owner in Canada.    

I just sent out this very special kilt. It is the ancient Campbell tartan, and over the years I have made many kilts in this tartan. However, this customer had a special request. He wanted the cloth to be woven in the colors favored by the current Duke of Argyll. This required a special weave, which I was happy to do -- I happen to know the mill where the Duke gets his tartan woven and they were happy to oblige my request for this order. Here is the Duke of Argyll displaying his tartan in these lovely light shades. And here is the kilt I just sent off in the post. It's a 6 yard knife pleated kilt, heavy weight fabric, all hand sewn as are all of my kilts.

The anniversary of the Act of Abolition (1st July, 1782) is just a little over a month away.  What better time for the Scottish Tartans Museum to introduce this new t-shirt featuring art by Shaun Maxwell?

"Military box pleat" is a term some people use to describe any box pleated kilt made from a high amount of yardage (nominally 8 yards); for example, the kilts worn by the Seaforth Highlanders, or the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.  In fact, these regiments are the most likely reason why people use that term, but more on that later. I don't like using the term and I sometimes find myself having to explain why.  I am afraid that occasionally during these discussions I can come across as a nit-picker.  So I thought it would be helpful to explain in a single blog post my reasoning.  This way I can simply refer to this post the next time the issue comes up and be done with it! But before we get into the term "military box pleat" and the issues I have with it, I want to explain why I care about kilt terminology at all.  For fourteen years I worked at the Scottish Tartans Museum and my work there involved me in educating the public about the kilt both historical...

In my kilt making, I offer clients a choice between the usual color options for tartans -- modern, ancient, weathered/reproduction -- and the more historic Wilsons of Bannockburn colors.  Wilsons of Bannockburn was an old tartan mill that started in the 1760s and continued on into the early twentieth century.  They were the first large scale commercial producers of tartan cloth, and by the 1780s had standardized their colors to a large extent.  Modern day tartan researcher Peter MacDonald has painstakingly researched these colors and I am glad to be able to offer them as a special weave option for my clients. The problem is, however, that most people are not familiar with what these colors look like.  In terms of how they compare to the modern-day color schemes people are used to, I say they are not as dark as the modern, but not nearly as light as the ancient.  But that is not really helpful.  And because no mill today stocks them as a matter of course, th...