Ok, now for the bad news: Tailored kilts have a hair canvas interfacing that takes the load of the belts and buckles in the kilt. A length of plaid does not have the load carriing capability. I am not sure what cheater pleats are but they sound like loops on the inside of the material. If this is the case, then it might be eas to add some elastic and loops on each pleat to "gather" the pleats and make it easy to done the kilt.