What a gorgeous weekend! Yes it was a little on the warm side but we didn’t get rained out like the past two years.
I went up last Wednesday to drop off the booth and make sure hat the site would work out well as this year I took on a full size lot. I came back Thursday evening and set up the product.

Friday was quiet during the day as other vendors were setting up. The Ontario constabulary also made their presence known.



Fergus Pipe Band parading on the golden mile.


A member of the clan Wallace visited my booth on Saturday all decked out.

Early Sunday morning I did a quick tour of the grounds


I also got to meet members of Clan Clause Wonderful folk

The weekend went well I meet a lot of my loyal customers and of course some new ones. Sold a number of leather kilts sporrans, kilt belts and sporran belts and of course hemp kilts. Very pleased.
I also received a link from an interview I did with NCPR whilst at the Glengarry Highland Games.

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/16133/taking-kilts-into-the-21st-century

The ranger belt has proven to be the most popular accessory to the RKilt. I’ve also had requests to make them as a stand alone item. Ranger Belts have been around for sometime now but I first was acquainted with it at a Highland Games in Kincardine a number of years ago. A customer was having problems getting one and asked if I could make him one. Having made one I soon discovered that it also looked good on the kilts I make.
Today I needed to make a few to fill some orders. With a strap cutter I cut a number of lengths of leather for the base of the belt.

I then stamp out the tongue and receiver.

Also have to make the keepers and I skive them down so they aren’t too bulky on the belt

I bag punch the receiver to accommodate the buckle.

I tip the ends of the belts with an English point on the front and a square tip on the back.
I also have to bag punch the strap at one end as well as the rivet holes to allow the buckle receiver strap to be attached to the belt. This is all done with the aid of this foot press. I switch out drivers and dies to do each operation.

Once all the pieces are cut and the edges dyed I then top stitch the leather with Thumper.

I assemble the leather keepers

Then to another machine to sew the receiver and tongue to the belt

The receiver is also riveted to the belt with a leather and metal keeper in place and the buckle installed and riveted in place.
Here we have the finished product. The two brown ranger belts will be fitted to the kilt before the tongue is sewn to the belt.

Another wonderful day in Stratford.

Stratford Summer Music is in full swing as bands are playing on the barges on the river.

I started the morning working on pockets.




The kilt is near completion as I have buckles, straps and belt to add to this one.

A number of people visited the shop today so I wasn’t able to finish it. Possibly on Tuesday it will be complete.

The shop is somewhat back in shape and now I’m building a British Rebel Tan leather kilt.
This kilt is destined to New Zealand and should be complete by early next week.
A lot of traffic in the shop today and a number pf people were treated to a demonstration on how this kilt will be built.
Leather waslaid out prior to cutting to length.


Then I lay out the pleats on the pieces of leather.


Tomorrow top stitching will begin and assembly of the swish component of the swing.

I have just returned from the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville. I had a good weekend but now I have to get my shop in order.
I headed to the games last Wednesday. Loaded up the trailer and car and headed west to Maxville.

Spent a night in a provincial park and then set up on the Thursday.
While I was setting up bands were practicing in the circle behind me.

There were impromptu circles happening throughout the day and into the evening


Friday morning finishing touches to the grandstand area, for the opening ceremonies later that evening as well as the heavies during the day.
Vendors were also coming in for a last minute set-up.


They start them young for competition.

Dancing competitions were also happening Friday Morning both on the field and in the beer tent.

I only had a short time to wander around and very briefly got to see some action in the heavy events.

Later in the morning we had some rogue sheep running through the vending areas, but by the time I found my camera they were being rounded up by a dog back to the grandstand area. It was rather fun to watch.



Through out the day bands paraded in front of the booth.

At the opening ceremonies during the singing of the National anthems, instead of raising the flag on a pole, the flags are delivered from the sky.




On Saturday I had the pleasure of seeing a good friend Brent McLaren and his wife Shelly. He’s a town Crier and added some colour to the booth for a brief time.

I was rather busy on Saturday so didn’t get to take many more pictures, so I will finish with a final one of another band outside my booth.

The next Games will be in Fergus, Aug. 13th-15th. If you have a chance please stop by.

It was a beautiful day in Stratford this morning.

On the table today was to complete the kilt for Rocky Roeger of USA Kilts. I had to finish of constructing the pockets.


Once they were complete I marked the location on the kilt itself to prep them for stitching.



Later I installed the buckles and straps as well as re-enforced the stress points with rivets.


It will need a final pressing and a ranger belt and it will be ready for shipping.

My apologies to my followers. It’s been a hectic few weeks. As a result I haven’t been posting on the blog.
I also took a few days off to celebrate my 55th birthday, and take a motorcycle ride up to visit my folks on Manitoulin Island.
It was a hot day when I rode up and I took a break at an outdoor rink.

I also got to see first hand a harp my father made for my mother

So now I’m playing catch up.
I’ve been very productive this week and turned out three lovely black hemp kilts that should be shipped out on Monday.
Yesterday I started on a kilt for my good friend Rocky Roeger of USA kilts. He was quite taken with the new colour Army Green hemp and decided that it is a must have.
My family gave me a new camera and gorilla tripod for my birthday so I used that to take the following photographs of me stitching up Rocky’s kilt.

Just before quitting time today I was measuring out for the waistband


More to follow tomorrow as I hope to complete Rocky’s kilt.

I’ve had the pleasure over the last few days to be working on a couple of Mach V LE’s. This leather is wonderful to work with and allows me to build a leather kilt with lots of pleats

This kilt is still in the midst of construction but it contains 26 one inch pleats that taper to 3/4″ which translates to 8yds of supple leather. The pleats are very deep making for an excellent swish factor.

The other night I wore my own Mach V LE to a party, I sat down next to a woman. Her hands were immediately on my kilt as she was asking “Is this leather” Her husband was sitting across from me and his jaw dropped. I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders and suggested he might want to look into getting a kilt.
I pretty much always wear a leather kilt. it regularly elicits positive comments. Something to consider if you’re on the fence about acquiring a kilt be it tartan, hemp or leather.
Soon I will have pictures of the two leather Mach V LE’s before shipping. They’re still not on the website but if you email me I will be happy to give you the price and data on these special kilts.

It’s taken a couple of months, but I’ve finally have the largest die in my arsenal working. This one measures 10″ x 17″ and is the body for the cargo pockets on an RKilt. With this die I can punch out about 20 pockets at one go. It does speed up the process and allows me to work from a more uniform pattern.
A die of this size requires at least 10 tons of pressure to cut the material. This means I have to suspend my 235lb body on the handle of the press in order to achieve this to work.

I have incorporated notches in the die which gives me a guideline to the folds in the pocket. I used to have to mark out the fabric, measure each line. I save about 15 minutes per pocket, and be more precise.

The above photo you can see the end result of the die at work.
Cheers

Although it’s mid week for most, today is the first day back in the shop. I took Monday off and managed to get some vitamin D in me. Thanks to Karen and Stan for the use of their cottage for a day.
Tuesday I spent most of the day on the road, picking up much needed hardware, leather for belts and straps and sporrans. Also went to Toronto for more hardware and leather, returned home late in the afternoon to a shipment of hemp.
The shop is full of supplies and I have to get crackin.
Did my morning walk this morning, got a little wet, but the leather kilt repels the water so only my head is still damp.
The view outside my window this morning.

The white spots are a result of the rain.

Stay dry