Kilt Pleats

[Pleater]

A bolt is - traditionally, 40 yards - I suspect that you don't have a bolt of cloth.

How much do you have? Is it double width - 54 inches wide, and do you know how much it weighs? The weight is fairly important to judge just what might give the best effect.

The shorter length box pleated kilts look better, I think, if made from substantial fabric, 16 oz to the running yard of 54inches or thereabouts. Lighter materials will make perfectly good kilts right down to 10oz fabric, though those are the standard type for wearing when competing in Highland dancing as, made with lots of deep knife pleats, they swing and swirl wonderfully as the dancer performs on stage. They might just 'do a Marilyn' in a wind though.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[TheOfficialBren]

Wow, Tobus! Superb quality pleats, there!

[llyd]

was gonna say..ann beat me to it...a whole bolt? how about making a career out of making kilts out of it...

four yard box pleat, then a kingussie tank?

[KiltFitz]

I think knife pleats personally. Since it is a darker shade of black watch, there won't really be a strong-contrasting dominant stripe in pleating to the stripe such as you see in Tobus' picture of a MacKenzie/Seaforth.

I agree that military pleats are superb. My next planned kilt will be in FitzGerald Military Tartan and will definitely have them (although I also love the look of Lady Chrystal's double box-pleat), however the beauty of line-pleating is in the "reveal" when walking.

With so much material you could have an excellent knife pleated kilt made with dense pleats which will deliver a splendid rear view and a wonderful motion (dependent on weight). What a wonderful quandry to be in however! Be sure and show us pics once it is made!

[Tobus]

I think knife pleats personally. Since it is a darker shade of black watch, there won't really be a strong-contrasting dominant stripe in pleating to the stripe such as you see in Tobus' picture of a MacKenzie/Seaforth.

True, that. Part of the charm of military box pleats is the tight "to the stripe" pleating on a bold colour (usually yellow, red, or white). You're just not going to get that from Blackwatch since it's a fairly homogenous tartan which doesn't have any accent lines. But then again, the same will be true of any pleating style you use for this tartan. So if you want this kilt to have a special feature, it's going to have to be in the pleating style, not in the choice of colour arrangement. Which is why I think the MBP style is the way to go. Especially since you already have a knife-pleated kilt. Why not go for something different?

As I understand it (and as explained in this thread), before the regiments were combined into the RROS, there were two different pleating styles for the Blackwatch tartan. The Blackwatch regiment used knife pleats while the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders used military box pleats. If you go to that thread, you can see photos of how different they look. I think this will go a long way in helping you decide, regardless of which way you go with it.

[David Thorpe]

...the beauty of line-pleating is in the "reveal" when walking.

A high-contrast "flash" is nice, but a high-contrast (exposed) stripe to which to pleat is a separate but also attractive feature.

[Nathan]

pleated to stripe.jpg
pleated to stripe2.jpg

I like the look of military box pleats just as much as knife pleats. Mine is certainly a well balanced kilt, comfortable with a good swish and it is made with less yardage than my knife pleated kilt which is pleated to the set. I've upped the exposure on the pic to give you a good view of how the pleats hang. My one caveat with these is that due to the shallow nature of the pleats to this stripe, they have a tendancy to flatten when you sit down. If you're going to wear the kilt a lot, maintaining it can be a real chore. Rolling it doesn't do it any favours and I've had to have mine rebasted a few times... not cheap.

My deep knife pleated kilt behaves much better when I sit on it. Just another consideration.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Ive made many Black Watch kilts over the years, the majority four yard box pleated kilts (as that is what I specialize in). The only picture I can come up with at the momement though, it this candid one taken at the Stone Mountain Highland Games a couple of years ago. It shows the kilt from the back. It's a regimental weight tartan, pleated to the line, in this case the black stripe on the green field.

[GLASGOW]

OK folks, been away for a while but appreciated everyone's comments & input.
Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I thought I'd share a photo of the cloth I have (with a couple of yardsticks for reference).

Enough material for a kilt?

Black Watch.jpg

[Tobus]

Assuming this is the same piece you were speaking of earlier (79"x56"), yep, it should be enough for a low-yardage kilt once it's ripped in half and joined into a single length.