Pleating to the sett is possible sometimes with a four yard kilt, but not always. It depends on the sett size. I can affect pleating to the sett by pleating to every other alternate stripe. For instance, if we label the pivots A and B, and numbered them sequentially as in A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3, etc., what I would do in order to pleat to sett is lay the pleats out thusly:
A1 B2 A4 B5 A7 etc.
In other words, there is a full repeat of the sett "hidden" in each pleat. I tend to do this when dealing with sett sizes a bit smaller than average, but not so small that I could just double the sett size and pleat to every other occurrence of the pivot (A1 A3 A5 A7 etc. in the above example). In essence, I multiply the sett size by 1.5 for the pleating.

I did this in a reproduction Armstrong kilt for myself, that had a sett size of 6". Average sett size I find to be between 7" and 9" (7.25" seems to be most common). I try to make the pleats about 1/3 the size of the sett at the hips. For a 6" sett that means 2" pleats which are doable, but a bit on the small size for a four yard box pleated kilt. If I "doubled" the sett size and pleated to every second pivot that would mean an effective repeat of 12" which is much larger than normal and itself presents problems. So I multiplied the sett size by 1.5 and pleated as described above. Here's what it looks like:


So, to sum up, pleating to the sett is possible, but generally just with tartans with slightly smaller than average repeats. I have to be able to multiply the sett size by 1.5 and still have a reasonable size. I don't have Terry's cloth right here before me now, but I recall this having a sett size of more than 7" so I wouldn't recommend pleating to the sett, though Terry, if you really want it, I'd see what I can do.

Another reason why I don't normally advocate pleating to the sett in a traditional four yard box pleated kilt is because I base these (as much as I can) on the historical fashion. Even though I make mine as modern-day kilts, not museum replicas (in terms of the details such as leather straps and buckles, lining, etc.) I do like to give a nod to history when I can. In the early nineteenth century hey-day of the four yard box pleated kilt, pleating to the stripe was the dominant style. Military kilts were always pleated to stripe. Civilian kilts were initially pleated to no pattern at all, but were also pleated to stripe after about 1815~1820 or thereabouts. Pleating to the sett didn't become fashion until the end of the nineteenth century, when knife pleating was the dominant style and the material in the kilt had increased to about 8 yards.

Lastly, regarding the MacDougall kilt, that was an example of having to get creative when faced with an unusually large sett size. I don't recall exactly how large that repeat is, but it may have been in excess of 14". So I effectively cut it in half, pleating to every other pivot (but without skipping a full repeat as I would do if I were pleating to the sett). Again, if we label the pivots A and B, whereas normally pleating to the stripe would go either AAAAAA or BBBBBB, in this case it runs ABABABAB, giving the effect you see pictured. This really can only be done with either very large setts, like the MacDougall, or very small setts where you can double the sett size and pleat to alternate lines.

The MacDonald of Keppoch tartan we are dealing with has a perfectly average sett size, so none of these special considerations really apply. So I'd stick with one of the two pleating options I've shown, as I think they would work best.

But, as I said, if Terry wants something different, I can try to make it happen or at least explain why I can't. :-)

M