subject: Philibeg And Fillibeg Are The Traditional Forms Of Tweed Clothing [print this page] The kilts are highly popular and worn on various occasions such as the modern Highland games events especially. They are made from twill woven worsted wool, with a "22 type" pattern by which each of the weft thread passes over very delicately and under the two warp threads at a time which just looks stunning. This gives rise to a unique pattern called twill line having a diagonal pattern. This twill becomes tartarn when the weaving is in accordance to a given sett or written colour pattern. The Irish pipers use the kilts with solid-colour cloth usually in saffron or green colours. Philibeg is one such traditional kilt worn mainly by the Scottish Highlanders.
The Philibeg are also referred to as Fillibegs. The beginnings of the kilt were in the form of great kilt or the belted plaid, which was a full-length garment with its upper part serving as shoulder or the head covering. The weights of the Philibegs are majorly measured in ounces per yard and vary from the very-heavy, regimental worsted of approximately 1822 ounces to a light worsted of about 1011 ounces which are of genuine quality indeed. Usually, the average kilts in the market are of the 13 ounces and 16 ounces. In the cooler regions, the heavier weights require lots of movement or even at the highland dancing, the lighter kilts are very much desirable and opted for. The patterns could vary in accordance to the weight of the kilts largely. The cloth size required for the kilts for the adults is 68 yards of single-width or 34 yards of double-width tartan fabric.
Kilts usually are made without a hem since hem makes the garment too bulky and the hang of the garment thus suffers, making it an un-smart fit. The exact amount of fabric needed though is based on the multiple factors including the size of the garment, the number of pleats to be made in the garment, and of course the size of the person very importantly. For making a full kilt eight yards of fabric is the minimum amount of fabric required irrespective of the size and the number of pleats and depth of the pleat that would be made in proportion to the cloth size. For a person with very large waist, it may be quite essential to use even nine yards of cloth. Tartans are the unique patterns woven in four standard colour variations that determine the overall tone of the garment. Vegetable dyes were used in earlier times for setting the colour and hence "Ancient" or "Old" style of kilts have a colour display which a deliberate slightly faded to give the intended time feel to the garment. In contrast the modern kilts have brighter looks.
