Funny Comic

I saw this on FB today and had to share it on our blog:

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

GREAT Deal on Ex Rental Kilts!

OK, so here's the deal.  USA Kilts started a rental program 2 years ago, using 3 of our tartans:  Sterling, American Heritage and Celtic Nations.  Over the course of the 2 years of renting kilts and packages, we've learned a few things.  

1.  The Sterling tartan is the tartan that rents 9 times out of 10 b/c the colors are neutral.  American Heritage and Celtic Nations don't rent nearly as well.

2.  We don't like doing rentals!

With that said, we are going to eventually get out of the rental business (in the next year or two), but we have to whittle down the rental kilt inventory first.  Below are the 2 tartans we will be selling and the sizes / quantities of each kilt.  Each kilt has slightly longer than average leather straps which accommodate a 5" waist span.  There are NO RETURNS on these kilts, so be sure to measure before ordering.

Ideally, we would like to sell these kilts en mass to a new pipe band looking to outfit everyone (with a few kilts to spare) OR to an existing band who wants to change their tartan.  We're offering a GREAT deal on kilts that were very lightly used (several have NEVER been rented), though we will sell these to individuals as well.  These kilts are ALL 8 Yard Wool kilts, made in Scotland.

Prices:

For 1 kilt, the price is $350 per 8 yard kilt.
For 6 kilts or more, the price is $290 per kilt.
If you're a pipe band looking to clear us out of EVERY size of one of these 2 patterns, the kilts are $230 each (and we'll throw in the kilt hangers).

Shipping will be charged at cost (and is free to orders of 20 or more kilts)

American Heritage:

American Heritage Sizes available -   
(Quantity available)  Waist size range X Length
(1)  25" - 30"  X  23"
(1)  28" - 33" X 23"     
(2)  28" - 33" X 24"
(1)  31" - 36" X 23"     
(2)  31" - 36" X 24"     
(1)  31" - 36" X 25"
(1)  34" - 39" X 23"     
(4)  34" - 39" X 24"     
(1)  34" - 39" X 25"
(1)  37" - 42" X 23"
(4)  37" - 42" X 24"
(1)  37" - 42" X 25"
(1)  40" - 45" X 23"
(5)  40" - 45" X 24"
(1)  40" - 45" X 25"
(1)  43" - 48" X 23"
(3)  43" - 48" X 24"
(1)  43" - 48" X 25"
(3)  46" - 51" X 24"
(3)  49" - 54" X 24"
(2)  52" - 57" X 24"
(2)  55" - 60" X 24"


Celtic Nations:

Celtic Nations Sizes available -  
(Quantity available)  Waist size range X Length
(1)  25" - 30"  X  23"
(1)  28" - 33" X 23"     
(2)  28" - 33" X 24"
(1)  31" - 36" X 23"     
(2)  31" - 36" X 24"     
(1)  31" - 36" X 25"
(1)  34" - 39" X 23"     
(4)  34" - 39" X 24"     
(1)  34" - 39" X 25"
(1)  37" - 42" X 23"
(4)  37" - 42" X 24"
(1)  37" - 42" X 25"
(1)  40" - 45" X 23"
(4)  40" - 45" X 24"
(1)  40" - 45" X 25"
(1)  43" - 48" X 23"
(3)  43" - 48" X 24"
(1)  43" - 48" X 25"
(3)  46" - 51" X 24"
(3)  49" - 54" X 24"
(2)  52" - 57" X 24"
(2)  55" - 60" X 24"



Please email me (Rocky@USAKilts.com) for an enquiry OR you can call the shop:  610.948.4110

IF YOU KNOW ANY PIPE BANDS who are potentially looking for a new tartan, please pass this info along by linking them to this page!  These tartans WILL STILL be available in the future for additional kilts down the road.

Custom Sporran Designs

In case anyone was wondering, we CAN have custom sporrans made to spec (within certain restraints). We don't have the ability to alter shape and come up with a brand new cantle design, but we CAN do more than just our standard sporrans! If you want to mix and match elements from sporrans we carry OR you have a specific hide in mind for a sporran (badger, muskrat, jackolope, bear, raccoon, stag, etc) OR you want your own personal FF or Police badge on a sporran, we can help!

Below are 3 different, NON stock designs. 2 were for 1 customer who supplied the pewter knot work and the pewter stag head. The other was for a customer who wanted a "non traditional dress sporran" and we helped him come up with this design.

Think outside the box!  Email Rocky@USAKilts.com with your ideas and we'll see if we can help!

Videos now online

We took a long time to do them and an even longer time to complete them, but our videos are now on Youtube!

We took the most common questions we are asked and put the answers out there for all to view.  Now you can get even closer to an "in store" experience without ever leaving your chair.  We cover topics from "What's the difference between Sett and Stripe" to "how do I tie my ghillie brogues", to "How not to lose a kilt pin."  The videos are either educational / tutorial, product guides, or measuring instructions.

Click here for a link to our Youtube channel to view all our videos.


Here is a sampling of a few of our videos.

How to put on a kilt outfit:

Kilt Jacket Styles and when they're worn:

How to wear a sash (for women):

Ancient, Modern, Muted, Weathered... What's the difference?

When you look at the tartans available from the different mills in the UK, you often come across what appear to be more than one tartan for the same clan or more than one version of the same tartan.  Using the MacDonald Clan tartan as an example, you may see MacDonald Ancient, MacDonald Modern, MacDonald Muted, and MacDonald Weathered.  Does that mean there are 4 MacDonald Clan tartans?  What are the differences between them?

Strictly speaking, the MacDonald Clan tartan (as shown below) is defined by it's thread count.  By thread count, I'm referring to the sequence of colors and the # of threads of each color.  When that sequence is stacked up warp and weft (horizontally and vertically as you weave cloth), you have a tartan.  For the example of MacDonald, it's thread count is:

/Blue 18, Red 4, Blue 8, Red 10, Blue 25, Red 4, Black 25, Green 25, Red 8, Green 6, Red 4, /Green 18

Below is a picture of the MacDonald tartan, showing that thread count  The image was taken from the Scottish Tartans Authority:

The terms Ancient / Modern / Muted / Weathered (aka Reproduction) are color palettes for a tartan. The thread count does not change, but the shades of the colors within the thread count does.  This does not make it a different tartan, as only the shades of the color have changed, not the thread count itself.  To use a parallel example, take a dark red Chevy Corvette and a bright  red Chevy Corvette and put them side by side.  So long as the year, make and options are the exact same, they are BOTH identical Corvettes with the same performance, just slightly different colored versions of the same thing.  

The same holds true for tartans.  Just because the color palette varies slightly doesn't make it a whole new tartan, just a slightly different color version of the same tartan.  Below are examples of how the color palettes change for each version:

Ancient - The Ancient color palette is meant to simulate older plant dyes, which would generally come out lighter in color.  In the tartan cloth, the following colors (as defined in the tartans' thread count) have the following shades:

Red turns to orange
Blue turns to a light sky blue
Green is a grassy green
Yellow is a pale yellow

Here's an example of the MacDonald Clan tartan in the ANCIENT color palette:

Modern - The Modern color palette is meant to emulate modern, bold colored dyes.  These are darker in color and more bold.

Red is a bold red
Blue is a navy blue
Green is a dark bottle green (like a beer bottle)
Yellow is a bold yellow

Here's an example of the MacDonald Clan tartan in the MODERN color palette:

Muted - The muted color palette is meant to emulate soft, natural colors.  It falls between the lighter ancient color palette and the darker modern color palette.

Red turns to blood red
Blue is a stormy sky blue
Green is an olive green
Yellow turns to a gold

Here is an example of the MacDonald Clan tartan in the MUTED color palette:

Weathered (aka reproduction) - The Weathered color palette (also known as "Reproduction" by one mill) is meant to look like the tartan has been recovered from a bog and affected by the weather.  It uses lots of browns and grays to drive that look home.

Red turns to a "salmon" red
Blue turns to bluish grey
Green becomes brown
Yellow turns to pale gold
Here is an example of the MacDonald Clan tartan in the WEATHERED color palette:

If there's one thing to take away from this article, it's that a tartans thread count (how a tartan is 'defined') doesn't change going from Modern to Ancient to Muted... just the colors within the tartan itself turn different shades of the defined color.

What is your favorite color palette for your clan tartan?  CLICK HERE to view the stock tartans offered from all of the Scottish mills and see for yourself the differences between Ancient, Modern, Muted and Weathered for your own tartan.

How NOT to make a kilt...

A bit of history... Those of you who know me and have heard my 'pitch' may have heard me answer the question (which is asked a LOT), "Which is better... a Hand Sewn kilt or a Machine Sewn kilt?"  My answer is ALWAYS, "it depends on the skills of the kiltmaker... I've seen high quality hand sewn kilts and POOR quality hand sewn kilt just like I've seen high quality machine sewn kilts and POOR quality machine sewn kilts".

A while back I repaired (for a pipe band we service) a machine sewn kilt from one of our competitors.  It was a poorly made machine sewn kilt as much of the internal bits of the kilt were missing.

Today, a pipe band who uses us for a few items called about bringing in a couple kilts to be repaired and altered.  Normally we do not repair other kilt maker's work because we don't know what we'll find (you'll understand why by the end of this post), but since these 2 individuals are existing customers and have purchased multiple kilts from us, we wanted to help them out.  Below is an example of a poor quality hand sewn kilt, as brought in by a local band who went with a reasonably inexpensive, local, part time kilt maker (in MD).  She isn't new to the trade... her website states that she's been making kilts for 38 years.

I am specifically NOT naming the company used to make this kilt (b/c I don't want to embarrass them in public), but if you'd like to see the signature on the inside of the kilt to verify who I am speaking about, I can email you a picture.

I've often spoken about the quality of thread being an issue when sewing a kilt.  I can now show you why.  When you use poor quality and reasonably thin cotton thread, it will deteriorate over time.  The kilts I repaired today were made in 2008 and 2010.  The wool fabric itself was still in FANTASTIC shape (which tells me the kilts weren't abused or excessively dry cleaned to cause premature deterioration of the thread).  Here is some of the thread that was pulled from the kilt where the thread had snapped.  Notice how fuzzy the thread is and how there are thin spots visible where it would have failed again:

I did do a burn test on this thread.  When burned, the smoke was not black, it ashed up and kept burning until I blew it out.  It left ashes and not a hard plastic ball.  It smelled like smoke and not burning hair, so I determined it to likely be cotton.

Another issue with this particular kilt (which will be compounded by brittle disintegrating thread) is the stitches per inch.  A good hand sewn kilt will have 8 to 10 stitches per inch.  More stitches per inch = more time it takes to sew.  That's the beauty of a machine sewn kilt... you set the stitches per inch by a dial on the machine and it doesn't take any longer or shorter.  On a hand sewn kilt, each stitch takes time, and time = money.

This particular kilt has 5 stitches per inch (and I sampled the kilt across 10 pleats with my ruler to get a fair average # of stitches per inch).  I used pins to show the location of each stitch, to make it easier to see:

The issue with fewer stitches per inch is that there is more stress ("load") born by each stitch when the body pushes out against the fabric.  This is especially true when the canvas lining isn't sewn in (see next section).  When you couple the additional stress of fewer stitches with the poor quality thread, you get breaks in the thread.  This kilt also doesn't appear to have any "lock stitches", meaning that if a thread fails (breaks), it will pull out to a locked stitch and stop.  Here are two pleats that have torn out due to failed stitches:

 Here is a stitch that just failed and is starting to come apart:

On top of the thread issue, this kilt also has fusible lining ironed in, instead of horsehair canvas lining sewn in.  Fusible lining is used by some large machine sewn kiltmaking companies in Scotland to save time (mass production), but I have NEVER seen it in a hand sewn kilt before.  It saves roughly 30 to 40 minutes of labor in the makeup, but over time, the fusing glue comes loose and presto, the internal lining is just 'floating' under the cotton lining, serving no purpose.  This puts ALL the stress on the pleat stitches, and when there are only 5 stitches per inch, you get failed stitches (breaks).

You'll also notice in the picture above that the scalloped pleats are not all sewn together (steeked).  Well, funny thing... they were steeked, but the thread snapped, leaving 3/4 of them dangling without any reinforcement from steeking stitches or the reinforcement of a horsehair canvas (since the fusible interfacing had come unglued).  This contributes to pleat splay and having the depth of each pleat stick down below the bottom of the selvedge.

The stitches holding the bottom of the cotton lining to the wool also failed (again, cheap thread):

The black bar in the above photo covers up the kiltmaker's signature and date (she signs and dates each kilt she makes).

I wanted to hold this kilt up as an example that no matter hand sewn VS. machine sewn, no matter 1 year making kilts VS. 38 years, there are good and bad quality kilts out there.  A quality kilt is made up of a combination of ALL of the following:

1.  Quality material
2.  Quality thread and internal components
3.  Skill of the kilt maker

I hope this helps to explain more of what to look for in a kilt and helps to educate a bit about the construction of a proper kilt.

Shopping for a kilt? Things to think about.