Highland wear

This is an overview of my Scottish Highland wear. I made the jacket, fly-plaid (shoulder drape), and kilt. I used Simplicity pattern 5029 as my primary source for the jacket and fly-plaid and Folkwear pattern 152 for the kilt. The jacket was extensively changed from the published instructions to accommodate proper and traditional tailoring techniques to ensure a professional and long-lasting garment.

The jacket is made of a warm/dark brown melton wool coating which I had stored away for years. It was rather moth bitten and needed some mended regardless of my attempts to cut around them. There is a tan/brown plaid wool facing to the pocket flaps and the undercollar. The lining is a red satin as well as the cuff facings. The sleeve lining is a lightweight rayon, cream with blue stripes as is traditional for tailoring. The plaids were purchased online at a discounted price. It is not an official tartan and is therefore, unfortunately, not my family clan tartan of Davidson. I could not afford the real deal as wool tartans of a suitable weight can cost upwards of 30 pounds a meter which translates to close to 60 dollars a yard. A man's military style kilt takes up to 9 yards of fabric...you're looking at well over 500 dollars for fabric alone. The plaid I bought is a fashion plaid but of a nice wide sett comparable to real tartans and was 80% wool, 20% polyester. I am an ardent snob when it comes to fabric; a defender of all things natural and loathe synthetic fibers like polyester. I would have preferred 100% wool but was pleased with the drape and hand of this fabric; you really can hardly tell it isn't all wool.

The kilt was very difficult to make as it is entirely a matter of mathematical formula for drafting/fitting which is centered around the relationships between your waist, lower back and hips (there are no pattern pieces included) and a hell of a lot of hand-stitching. There is relatively no shaping through seams but almost entirely through the pleating.  If you think, however, to make a real kilt is as simple as merely pleating 8 yards of fabric with a machine...think again. The Folkwear pattern explains the process rather well but it is definitely something that requires a lot of patience and a willingness to fail and try try again. All pleats are hand sewn to ensure matching of plaids and shaping in the lower back.  Having done it myself now, I will never begrudge the price of new professionally made kilts from Scotland; I have gained a hearty respect for them!




The fly-plaid is simply a large square with fringed edges. I veered from the pattern only by knotting the fringe to ensure a long-lasting and more interesting detail. It took me about 5 hours to do.  In Oct. of 2007 you may have been made aware of the fires that ravaged the western seaboard of the state of California.  It was declared a national emergency as parts of San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco simultaneously burned.  One of those multiple forest fires raged through Malibu.  Pepperdine University's main campus is located in Malibu.  I graduated from Pepperdine University in 2007.  As I sat in the Seaver College dining hall, where students were  congregated to await possible evacuation, watching the fire rescue helicopters taking water out of the ponds on campus to battle the blaze, I knotted a couple hundred clumps of fibers. As it turns out, Pepperdine was the best place to be as the landscaping was specifically designed to divert fires away from the buildings (the Malibu Presbyterian Church across the street burned to the ground; Pepperdine lost a pool supply shed and a lot of plant life).  It also turns out that knotting little clumps of tartan is a good way to take your mind off of impending doom...incidentally not so good for the smell of the cloth. Luckily the stench of the smoke, which was suffocating at times, did not stick permanently.

Hand picked edge stitching around front edges, lapels and collar, cuffs and pocket flaps and welt of breast pocket. Hand stitched button hole at front. Grosgrain ribbon faux button holes on cuffs and pocket flaps. Contrast undercollar.