Originally established in 1879 as a bagpipe making business, Grants of Dalvey (based in Alness Ross-shire) has built on the high craft and precision engineering skills involved in the creation of musical instruments.

Today, Dalvey no longer make bagpipes but are using the skills handed down from that trade to produce a distinctive line of lifestyle accessories for all walks of life.

For the outdoor types, they have come up with a range of flasks, telescopic cups and compasses all in stainless steel making them attractive as well as sturdy. For the businessman they have a range of business card holders, pen sets and organisers. They have also created a large range of unique gifts that have an echo of the past, in particular their travel clocks that reflect an era when people travelled in style.

Dalvey have created a range of gifts that are ideal for marking milestones in life such as birthdays, anniversaries and graduations.

This week only – You can buy our full range of Dalvey products with 10% off everything!

Alexander Scott founded Alex Scott in Aberdeen on 6th August 1925. Since then our shop has been proudly sourcing and producing Highland wear and all things Scottish. Proving our commitment to great customer service I’m passing on some of our extensive product knowledge in our new series of guides. Here is the second in a two part discussion of Kilts and Kilt making in my Buyer’s Guides series:

The Structure of the Kilt

Our kilts are made using pure wool cloth woven by some of the best weavers in the world. The kilts are made-to-measure by our own in-house kiltmaker to the highest possible standard.

The kilts are made using eight yards (7.3m) of cloth. However for bigger people, it is sometimes necessary to add an extra yard of cloth so that the kilt will have the correct number of pleats.

The kilts are lined at the waist and have a buckle and strap at each side to give adjustment for comfort. The kilts are usually pleated to the set, which makes the pattern at the back match the front, but we can if requested, pleat the kilt to the stripe. This ishow military kilts are pleated and makes the back of the kilt appear to be one colour.

Typical Timescale

We usually quote 6-8 weeks to make a kilt, however, there are circumstances out with our control that can extend the time taken.

The weavers strive to keep a surplus of tartan in stock, however, their stock does run out occasionally which means we have to wait until they have woven a new batch. The delay is based purely on how far on with the weaving process they are when we express an interest in acquiring cloth for your kilt. If they are near the end of the process, the delay may only be a week or so, however, the delay can be four weeks and more. We will make you aware of any situation regarding delivery before confirmation of the order.

As mentioned in the previous section, your chosen tartan may not be woven as a stock tartan but we can have any registered tartan woven to order to make one kilt. This adds twelve weeks to the delivery time of the kilt and can add to the cost.

Costs

This is part two of our special guide – in part one we looked at Tartan Cloth and Choice of Tartan

New guides are added regularly. All our buyers guides are available in our Buyer’s Guide section. We strongly encourage your comments and feedback: