5 Yard Knife-Pleated Kilt in Braveheart Warrior (Marton Mills Jura)

[Barb T]

Well, all other things being equal, you get more pleats (and narrower ones) by pleating to the stripe than to the sett. But whether it makes more sense to pleat to the stripe or the sett depends on the tartan. How big a chunk of the sett would be in each pleat? Does that chunk look good repeated across the back of the kilt? How much taper do the pleats need for the measurements of the person? If you pleated to the stripe, would you lose a prominent edge stripe in the taper of every pleat (which doesn't look good)? Your measurements (which would be necessary to figure out the # of pleats and the size of the pleats), plus the size of the specific elements of the sett, are necessary to answer this question. It's best done with the tartan in hand. If you have hired an experienced kiltmaker who is willing to consider a variety of options, you can trust his/her judgment. But that shouldn't prevent you from asking to see what a variety of options would be like pleated to the stripe.

I'm working on a kilt for someone right now who was quite certain he wanted it pleated to the stripe. With the size of the elements and his measurements, though, I didn't think pleating to the stripe would look good. But I did pin it up and take a pic with my iPad and send it to him for him to make the decision rather than deciding for him.