Hello! New member posting for the first time. I'm a handweaver tackling my first kilt.

After about 4 redos of doing the pleats I finally got everything situated with the exception of the waist. My hip pleat split is 20" and waist is 16". After attempting to taper the waist I got it right on the mark; however, my hip measurement shrunk an inch.

Is there any trick to maintaining the hip pleat split when tapering the pleats at the waist? Any advice would greatly appreciated!