Kiltmaking at Scots Connection

Our kilts are hand stitched throughout, with a minimum of twenty nine, and up to thirty five, hand lifted deep pleats. Pleating will normally be to the sett, but can be to the line in the regimental manner, if specially requested.

We use superior heavy duty bridle leather kilt straps which are exclusively made for us at an Aberdeenshire saddlery. The kilt straps are made from the best quality vegetable dyed bridle butt leather. Our kilt straps cost us three times the price of regular straps, but we don't pass this cost on to our valued customers. The difference in quality speaks for itself, we guarantee that our straps will last a lifetime.

We fit two of our high quality straps with hand cast buckles straps to every kilt we make. The additional seat buckle and strap found on most modern kilts is a hangover from the old military kilts with massive 4” rises. We find this additional kilt strap to be the most common cause of a kilt apron pulling tight and not sitting correctly. It is completely unnecessary on the civilian kilt with a 2” rise and is best left out.

The unseen work on a kilt is extremely important but often neglected to cut costs. Our kilt makers pad stitch heavy canvas by hand along the back of the kilt at the top of the pleats to preventing sagging. Our kilts are all ‘lifted’ by backstitching each pleat by hand along the seat line, further ensuring that the kilt holds its shape throughout its long life. This is one of the most labour intensive stages in the construction of a kilt and often missed out completely by inferior kilt makers.