I purchased 4yards (double width) of the Anderson tartan from eBay a few weeks ago, and I finally decided to start the project this weekend.

Ripping was a little interesting. My first piece didn't want to rip, but it finally gave in. Decided on pleating to the stripe, so that's all set. Chalked out the aprons, marked the pleats.

Here's where the trouble begins. Pleat size....First let me say numbers and I DO NOT get along. I tried both methods listed in Barb's book (calculator and traditional). I get different results with each. Using a calculator I get about 1" at the hips, and 3/4" at the waist. Using the traditional method I get about 7/8" at the waist and a hair (as if 1/8 isn't small enough) under an inch at the hips. Is that a big enough difference to be worried about?

OK...so I move on from there and start the basting of the front apron. Right side, no problem, left side, I'm having a hard time keeping the underside stripes parallel, and when I stretch/skew the underside starts to get lumpy. Any suggestions?