Today's Guest: Walter Cameron and Jerry J. Johnston of New Scotland Kilts in Nova Scotia, Canada
Today's Host: John Bentley
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Walter Cameron and Jerry J Johnston Expert PageANNOUNCER: Welcome to the VTalk Radio Business Spotlight sponsored by Henderson's Imports. Henderson's of Northern Michigan supplier of bagpipes, piping supplies, pipe and percussion and highland wear. You can reach them on the web at Hendersongroupltd.com. Now here's your host, John Bentley.
JOHN: Today on VTalk Radio's Business Spotlight we have president, Jerry J. Johnston and master kilt maker, Walter Cameron of the New Scotland Kilts of Nova Scotia, Canada, joining us via telephone. Welcome to the program today, gentlemen.
JERRY: Thank you very much.
JOHN: Now I believe we're going to start with Walter first. Walter you were a regimen tailer in the Scott's Guard. Can you talk about the duties that you had in that position?
WALTER: Yeah surely. In the Scots Guards, as you can imagine, they're a very elite regiment and their duties are twofold. One is the ceremonial guard and two is the infantry soldiers which we did both roles. My role was secondary infantry soldier and firstly regimental tailor. In the battalion the duties and responsibilities of that were to keep the battalion of 600 men in full ceremonial guard order to the highest standards possible, and the only way we could do that is with our extensive training procedures and doing the job properly and using the correct materials so that these outfits would last the battalion a long time so we weren't spending money and creating a massive budget every single year.
JOHN: Well how do you think your military experience makes you a better kilt maker?
WALTER: Well as I was saying the extreme training made sure we did all the skills to a very high standard. We had to work under extreme pressures to meet deadlines. And once again, I learned to instruct properly by using instruction techniques, again training our younger members in the tailor shop, bringing them up to the exact same level. So there's always training and testing to make sure everybody had the same standards. And the biggest thing of all, we take a big pride in our job.
JOHN: Now, Jerry, if I could ask you, could you give us a little background about New Scotland Kilts?
JERRY: Yes, I can actually. I guess the first thing I'll start with myself and I have an excess of 30 years as a chartered accountant and I've been involved in very many types of business. Anything from private companies to start up companies through and including multi-national public corporations where I provided tax consultation. I met Walter and I recognized the compassion he had for highland dress and design and being a good chartered accountant I saw a real opportunity here to combine with him and we basically started this off in that capacity. The combination of my business combination and Walter's passion and expertise in kilt making New Scotland Kilts was born.
JOHN: Now when did you actually start...when did you actually start the business...or how long have you been in business?
JERRY: This is our third year.
JOHN: Great, awesome. Now what products and services does New Scotland Kilts offer?
WALTER: We offer custom made kilts from hand sewn to machine made. We do a remake like some bands, etc., or personnel may have a kilt that doesn't fit them anymore. It's where they can be ripped out and remade again to look like brand new kilts. We have an alterations system where once again we can make the existing kilt fit them as we all put on a few pounds here and there. And we are looking at this year of exposing ourselves into rental highland dress.
JOHN: Now Walter what features makes a good kilt and what should people be looking for when they're interested in purchasing one?
WALTER: Well, John, it's like this....when you go to purchase a house or a quality car, you don't really see the inside of what's underneath the boards, etc., in your house. The kilt is exactly the same. You don't see what the construction work underneath there in the lining is where all the construction work is. So if the construction is correct, the exact same as the house, it will last a long time. A good kilt will be 100% A-1 worsted wool and worsted means that the wool was all brushed in one direction so there's no knots on it or flaws and has a good salvage edge which means it's a finely pointed edge. So you don't have to put a hem into the pleats. The shaping part of the kilt is all done by hand. We use top end materials and once again sewing and sewing with accuracy in the pleating as you can imagine out of 25 pleats. Let's say when I hand sew I'm 1 mm out in each pleat, well that's an inch over that 25 pleats so you can imagine. So therefore, the kilt would be big one inch. Make sure that if you're buying a kilt that a qualified kilt maker is going to make it and you also have a 100% guaranty of satisfaction for the kilt.
JOHN: Sure, now are there any things that you should really be aware of?
WALTER: One thing we see nearly every day in the papers or on the news are the imports coming in from abroad. The quality and the weight of the cloth now a proper kilt should weigh between 13 and 18 oz. Thirteen being a medium weight; 16 oz. a heavy weight which we would recommend for bagpipe bands and 18 oz. is military weight. Once again I'll mention about hems. If you have hems on a kilt what will happen is the kilt will start all the pleats will kick out in the front aprons and make sure if you've got a band and you are going to purchase more kilts, making sure you get it from the exact same mill so that the coloring is correct and the sett sizes are correct.
JOHN: Now, many would think of kilts as being just plaid fabric, but it's more complicated than that isn't it? Could you talk a little bit about tartan cloth?
WALTER: John, once again, I've been there to see tartan cloth be made by this company called Lochcarron of Scotland. It's not just a matter of fact that these colors sit there ready to be woven, they're actually dyed all the time and they're checked against like a Pantone color. Once the wool has been dyed it then goes to a warping mill. Once it's all been put on the warping mill there's about 3,000 threads going across this before it goes onto the weaving machine. Once it goes on to the weave, they'll weave the desired length is required, 60 meters, 120 meters, etc., of whatever cloth. Once it's woven that cloth is then hand inspected by a team of ladies that have been at this game for years and years and years to be sure that the quality of the cloth is with high standards. If there's any knots or cross threads they repair these by hand and that is something really to see and it's just like there's never been anything there whatsoever on the cloth. On the tartan cloth side there is a new weaving system came out and changed the looms that used to be what we used to call shuttle loom and on a shuttle loom, what that can do is put any line in the tartan anywhere you want, i.e. the bottom of the kilt you can have a big block let's say red in color, but because of new techniques now because tartan has become more available we need faster machines. The old machines are so old you can't get spare parts for them now. The new machines are called rapier machines and on the rapier machine what that does is it's called a tuck-in salvage so when it makes a salvage--prime of 4 inches. That can now be done so pipe bands have got to be aware of this and be informed of this, and we inform all our customers about this and when we do training, like at Henderson's in Michigan we were up there doing a weekend training with the staff, we explained the list to them and now pass it to their customers as well.
JOHN: And what about taking care of your kilts; how do you take care of a kilt?
WALTER: One you have to place it on a clamp hanger, so that the apron doesn't have a belly on it, so it keeps the apron nice and flat. Dry clean it only. Use a special dry cleaning shop. Keep out of direct sunlight and when you wear the kilt, obviously, we always perspire so what you have to do with that once you've worn it is to hang up on a clamp hanger and allow it to dry before putting it away. It doesn't go to the dry cleaners all of the time because of chemical in dry cleaning fluid called perc (perchloroethylene) which then breaks down the wool of the fabric and it will start deteriorating the cloth. If you can imagine that regimental kilts in the military are only dry cleaned twice a year and they wear them day in and day out. Another thing is have it insured because you paid a lot of money for it.
JOHN: I'm sure. Now what makes your kilt special? What sets your kilts apart from the competition?
WALTER: Our kilts are special because we have very high standard of training and to make sure we reach the quality procedures in place at New Scotland Kilts. There's a 14 point quality control check on every kilt, i.e. every stage is checked and signed off so we will know that it's been done and done by a particular person. And all the pressure points in the kilt, i.e. the buckle or the straps, the base of the pleats, and the pleats are all double sewn to give the strength of the kilt.
JOHN: And what about your company makes you the proudest? Why don't have Jerry answer this question. Jerry Johnston, president of the company. What about your company makes you the proudest?
JERRY: Well seeing the end product makes me very proud that's for sure as well as the testimonials that we receive from our satisfied customers.
JOHN: How do you envision the future of New Scotland Kilts, Jerry?
JERRY: What I see coming in to New Scotland Kilts is we will be making new designs, very exciting designs that the public are going to endorse for us, because we're not going to be standing still. There's going to be new fabric coming out of New Scotland Kilts and I suspect you'll be in one of our kilts very soon.
JOHN: Well, that would be something I am a bit Scottish in kind of a twisted way. Gentlemen, hey I want to thank you for joining us today on VTalk Radio's Music Spotlight all the way from Nova Scotia.
JERRY: Thank you, it was a pleasure being with you and we also want to say a special thank you to Henderson Imports. We're very excited about doing business with them, and he provided us with this opportunity so we're very thankful for James Henderson for doing that for us.
JOHN: Alright. We've been in the studio today with Jerry J. Johnston, President of New Scotland Kilts and his master kilt maker, Walter Cameron, out of Nova Scotia, Canada, and you've been listening to VTalk Radio's Business Spotlight. Good day.
ANNOUNCER: This VTalk Radio's Spotlight has been brought to you by Henderson's Imports. Henderson's in Northern Michigan is a supplier of bag pipes, piping supplies, pipe band percussion, and highland wear. Henderson's can supply the full range of products made by McCallum Bagpipes. You can visit them on the web at www.hendersongroupltd.com . You've been listening to VTalk Radio's Spotlight only on VTalkradio.com radio for the 21st century.