A master kilt tailor is teaching people around the world how to make the famous garments -

all with a unique online course.

Marion Foster, 66, first began kilt tailoring years ago for her uniform as a scout leader.

Craft-loving Marion, who already made most of her own clothes, became frustrated at the lack of information available about the process.

She was able to construct a kilt after studying the construction of one – but she couldn’t stop wondering how kilts were traditionally made.

Research led her to a school set up by a former military kilt tailor, where she studied the craft, tailoring and history of kilts and highland wear.

She quickly began creating her own - and says she's now 'probably one of the only people left who has the technical knowledge of creating kilts'.

Marion, of from Perthshire, then retired early from her management position with the NHS, deciding to devote herself full-time to her craft.

She then started the Askival of Strathearn Kilt College – a unique kilt tailoring mastery programme that can be carried out entirely online.

She teaches students from around the world the craft of kilt tailoring, with videos and tutorials breaking down each step and twice-weekly tutorials over Zoom.

She said: "In my childhood and adulthood, I’ve always had an aptitude for sewing and making things – I used to make all my own clothes."

"When I became a Cub Scout leader in the early seventies, I needed a kilt, and I could not find any guidance on how to make one."

"I eventually managed to look at one and make one for myself, but I was always left thinking, ‘what is the proper way of doing this?’"

"In my late forties, I heard of a school that one of the military’s master kilt tailors had set up, because he recognized all of the knowledge and skill that had been created over a couple of centuries."

"The military started stitching the kilt, making kilts for ceremonial use, as well as active service. They weren’t driven by profit; it was their craft."

"There is a craft behind the kilt that is dying out, because the people who have known the craft haven’t had the experience and the knowledge to create training programmes."

"Often, they hold things back – I was told when I first started training to not give everything away."

"I recognized that information was disappearing. I’m sure things are being lost because nothing was written down."

"As I went on, I had the opportunity to have an experienced tailor come and visit me, who really enlightened me about the tailoring, the stitching, and the way you create a garment to fit the shape of the person."

"In my middle fifties, I felt that I wanted to give this its due attention. I didn’t want to try and fit this in with my full-time work and do it in my weekends and evenings."

"I had learned so much through the challenges I had during my training, and I knew it could be done better."

"I'm probably one of the only people left who has the technical knowledge of creating kilts."

"Part of what I've wanted to do throughout my life is to become an expert and then pass it on and support other people - and I want this craft to continue."

"I pulled in my NHS pension at 55, and that enabled me to focus on kilt commissions and creating a training programme."

Marion started offering her online qualifications in 2020, after creating hours of training videos and writing manuals over lockdown.

Marion hopes that her accreditation will allow her students to set up traditional Highland wear businesses, restore historic kilts, and create special occasion kilts for their loved ones.

Her dream is to ensure that the art of traditional kiltmaking never dies out – and she believes that her students will carry on teaching the craft.

"A wide scope of knowledge surrounds kilt tailoring and Highland wear, so when you get through the accreditation, you are a master – not just about the process, but everything that’s associated," Marion said."

"You can’t learn it from a manual on its own – you need to see it be demonstrated, and you need to have the conversations and feedback."

"High street shops still want to say that they're selling handmade kilts - but they're flat, made to measure and very different."

"It's important to have that technical knowledge which high street kilt makers don't have - but they're dying out."

"High street kiltmakers will make a kilt in a day and a half, whereas I'd be doing the fittings and take nine days."

"I’ve got students in America, Australia, Shetland and Germany – we all meet up, accommodating for different time zones, and we learn from each other."

"We have a gathering every month with guest speakers, historians, leather workers and sporran makers to talk about what they do, and we record all those."

"My students will be able to restore kilts, which many don’t have the technical knowledge to do."

"People come in with historic kilts that have been left to them, or that have lost weight and still want that kilt that was given to them."

"We have the technical knowledge of how to restore and reweave the cloth, and deconstruct it and reconstruct it to fit that person."

"It’s amazing to see a filthy First World War kilt be cleaned and restored, the stitching recovered, and made to fit that young grandson or great-grandson."

"I see people that I’ve coached who have never touched a needle before, and they’ve created a beautifully tailored kilt for their husband or son."

"Kilts are timeless and created with longevity in mind, so you can pass it on through generations and have it altered in and out throughout lifetimes."

"It’s been a huge amount of work, but I think it’s very valuable. There’s more than just me out there, and now the knowledge won’t just stop at mine."