Box-pleated Tartan PV X-Kilt Hiking Hybrid!

[Tartan Hiker]

The first hiking trip will have to wait for the weekend, I fear. If the weather is decent I may try to do Graybeard, which is the last peak in the Black Mountain chain south of Mt. Mitchell.

As for the pleat-sewing, Alan H is just right...it's a lot easier to show it than to describe it, so here you go, Heath.

I used a note card cut to the width of the pleat at the waist, marked on the inside of the pleat where the edges of the card hit the waist edge. My pleats were 2" at the bottom of the fell and 1.5" at the waist.



Then I chalked a straight line on the inside of the pleat from the waist mark to the bottom of the fell (remember that I already pressed the pleats from the hem up to the bottom of the fell, so there was a crisp fold there. That way I knew exactly where the line ended). You only need to make one of these lines, on the side that will be facing up when you are stitching.



I flipped the kilt over and carefully basted just the bottom 1/4" of the fell. That way everything stays put without my having to hold it.



Then I flipped it back wrong side out, pulled the pleat out tight, held the two waist marks together and ran a line of stitches from waist to fell.



The trick is to be extra-sure that the cloth is evened up at the top or the whole pleat will be off. I messed up one and had to rip it out...no fun.
The result...a perfect machine-sewn taper without a thread showing. And NO PINS!