Greatkilt query

I. Marc Carlson LIB_IMC at centum.utulsa.edu
Fri Oct 18 09:15:13 PDT 1996


<Gnith<Scott White <swhite at onr.com>>>
>OK, so I've started wearing my first greatkilt to ren faires & such ... I'm
>doing OK with the actual pleating & wearing part. However, I've got one
>question:
>Should I hem the edge of the cloth so I don't get little wooly threads
>hanging everywhere?

How wide is your material?  If you are using a single width, then figure 
your length, fold the remainder in at the belt line so that it acts as a 
sort of short liner, and use the selvage edge as your hem.  Selveges are 
period, and so is using them to make the rest of what you are doing easier 
(You could, if you were being particularly picky, take the selvage, fold 
IT up so that it's not showing and sew that down, preferably with hidden
stitches).  If you are using double width material, or otherwise have 
WAY too much extra material in the "Liner", cut it back and hem that.

In short, *of course* you hem it.  "They" certainly did since wool
was (compared to zipping down to the local fabric pusher) was *WORK*
to card, dye, spin and weave, and every one of those "rustic" looking
threads hanging off is just work you have wasted.

>I'm going for kind of a ragged & ruffled look rather than the really pressed
>& pleated look. I still think that I could look nice & rumply with a hemmed
>edge -- but it seems like 'senior' kilt wearers tend to harass newbies for
>every little flaw in their garb, so I don't want to hem the edge if it's not
>common practice.

I will not say that I know for certain that *yes* they did, but having
just spent the few weeks digging through archaeological materials on
remains of clothing, I can tell you that Hems were not unknown.

As for what the "Senior Kilt Wearers" say, if someone comes up to you
and says "That's not Period", you need to take a moment and decide for 
yourself, are they trying to be helpful, just expressing the effective
social skills of jock itch?  Or are they trying to belittle you, to 
embarrass you and humiliate you?  If the former, you need to decide if
what they are telling you is of any importance to the way you want to
do things, or if you are content the way you are doing things at that 
moment (in which case, be polite, thank them and ignore them).  If they
are trying to "disrespect" you, stare them dead in the face and tell
them to piss off.  If you feel you must, you can even tell them that 
"Diarmuit tells me I should tell you to piss off" (actually Diarmuit
suggests using language inappropriate for discussion in this forum).
They are simply being bullies and if you let them get away with it, 
you are only encouraging them to pick on other people.

As an addendum, if you are trying to help someone, and they tell you that
"Diarmuit says...", than you may want to rethink your approach because 
your audience isn't listening to what you are trying to tell them.

I. Marc Carlson, Reference Librarian    |LIB_IMC at CENTUM.UTULSA.EDU
Tulsa Community College, West Campus LRC|Sometimes known as:
Reference Tech. McFarlin Library        | Diarmuit Ui Dhuinn 
University of Tulsa, 2933 E. 6th St.    | University of Northkeep 
Tulsa, OK  74104-3123 (918) 631-3794    | Northkeepshire, Ansteorra



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