The only time in the entire kilt-making process when I use a sewing machine is to attach the waistband. You can see the row of uniform stitches in the first photo.

Then I fold the band over the top of the kilt and anchor it to the inside with carpet thread (second photo).

The trickiest part is making sure the stripes on the band match up exactly with the stripes on the apron, which is the front of the kilt. In photo three, the apron is on the left, and the vertical stripes line up across the two pieces. The syncing can’t continue across the pleats because they are tapered from the fell and also centered on the same stripe. That loss of band-to-pleat match up occurs in almost all kilts. I’m qualifying the statement with an “almost” because I don’t know every tartan, and because there might be a pleating scheme where such a cosmic alignment happens. Maybe someday I’ll get to see it.

The white Xs are holding closed the “buttonhole” for a strap. The purpose for all the basting is coming up next. It’s time to pull out the stream iron and get ready for pressing!

Kilt progress: Double fringe! Pulling out the threads to make the fringe is fun and strangely relaxing. I cut a strip of fabric that exactly matches the apron pattern so I can do a double fringe. The apron is folded, bringing the line of white basting (on the right in the first photo) up to the fringe. This forms the facing. The extra strip is tucked inside the fold. The two fringes are hand sewn to the fold (which now becomes the apron edge). In the second photo you can see the red stitches running close to the edge. Ignore the messy white basting. It holds the facing in place until the wool gets a good pressing.