Oldest Folkwear Contest Entries: Part 2

Dawn A

April 01, 2026

I sewed my first Folkwear pattern when I was a sophomore in high school in 1979-80. Our spring musical was “Showboat” and I made the Calico Day Dress and the Edwardian underclothes (ruffled petticoat, camisole and bloomers). I think I bought the patterns at our local fabric store, Buttons and Bows, in Friendswood, Texas. It was my first foray into historical clothing and I was captivated by all of the information in the patterns. I went on to make the Bolivian Milkmaid’s Jacket more than once and the Kinsale Cloak, both as formal wear for more than one dance. Folkwear patterns were an entry into a larger world of history that I am still exploring today in Shakespearean theater.

Kindy Kemp

March 15, 2026

Too late for the contest, but I made the Romanian blouse around 1980. It took me about a year to do the embroidery. The pattern calls for size 10 scrim, but I used size 15 to get a more authentic look. (You can see that there are three large motifs at the top of the sleeve instead of the two on the sleeve embroidery diagram). I used fagotting with perle cotton to connect all the pieces, added handmade lace to the sleeve edges, and gathered the neck onto a narrow band of the blouse fabric (the fabric is cotton drafting paper that I washed the sizing out of). You can see a photo on page 43 of the gallery on this website (2022).

Carolyn W.

March 13, 2026

Your son, the piper, will look splendid in a Prince Charlie jacket, as well as a new kilt, especially one hand-made by his mother. Good for you!
I took a long-delayed trip to Scotland in 2024, keeping a promise to myself, and was sorely tempted by the beautiful tartans, including my paternal Wallace plaid in red, black and a bit of yellow. (It is also woven in other colors.) I did not buy any fabric. I’m satisfied with a scarf in the Wallace tartan purchased by a friend in the early 1960s when she studied in Edinburgh and brought back to WA state (as well as a flannel shirt in the Wallace tartan from L.L. Bean. (At 81, shirts will have to do.)

I did find some cotton in tartans, including my family taran, online. That fabric might work for the kids’ kilts, especially those who are still growing.

Valerie Ruthardt

March 12, 2026

My comment is not about the good old days, although I started to sew in 1969 at age 11. I have a Home Economics degree and I was a Make It With Wool Contest judge 30-plus years ago in Minnesota.

I recently bought the Scottish Kilt pattern 152 because it includes a Price Charlie jacket and instructions for a child’s kilt. In the early 2000’s I made 7 kilts while my husband and son were in a competitive pipes-and-drums band in Idaho. I had read and saved the Threads magazine article about kilt sewing, but actually used “The Art of Kiltmaking” book. I very highly recommend it as an excellent reference to add to the pattern if you have occasion to print another edition of it.

In September ‘25 my husband and I went on a quilter’s tour to Scotland of which the theme was “From Fiber to Fabric.” We toured the Lochcaren weaving mill and bought fabric to make my son (the piper) a kilt in my mother-in-law’s Taylor clan tartan. He still plays, sometimes for paying gigs, and I think the Prince Charlie jacket would be an excellent addition to his outfit. My daughter-in-law has also asked me to make a kid’s kilt for the grandsons.

So, when the pattern arrived I read completely through it hoping to gain some new knowledge pertaining to constructing the jacket. Boy, was I surprised to see the Singer Tailoring Book listed in the references at the end of the pattern. I sewed many of the samples for the photos in that book (and my gravity-feed iron was used because it was new-ish and still pretty shiny)!!!! Seeing the name in print was a real thrill, and I even rushed to show it to my husband. He remembers me sewing all of the lapel and collar samples, as well as some of the pocket samples.

I am definitely going to use Folkwear pattern 152 to make the Prince Charlie jacket when I have finished the kilt. I reversed the sewing order to put all of the pleat pressing first, so it could be done one crease at a time, rather than at the very end with multiple layers underneath, which limits how sharp the creases turn out. Now I am hand-sewing the back of the waistline, where all of the size-related shaping occurs. I’m still undecided about sewing the kids’ kilt, since the fabric was roughly $100 per yard. I may order a less expensive lighter-weight dancer’s tartan fabric for the kids.