pleated to the "dreaded lawn chair effect"

[Barb T]

This is the original picture Terry sent to me as we were talking about how he wanted his next kilt to be pleated.

Whether this would work would depend on the size of the sett. The dark green block isn't particularly wide, and that means the pleats have to be small. I can't see all the pleats in the kilt in Steve's pic, but I can count at least 30 pleats in what I can see. Even if the sett size is average, it would take a _huge_ amount of tartan (if the sett size were 8", 32 pleats would require over 7 yards just in the pleats!). So, you'd be OK if the sett size was smaller, but you'd have to measure to be sure.

Furthermore, my feeling is that, at some point, the pleats can get so small that the kilt stops looking like a kilt. Personally, I think pleats smaller than about 3/4" at the hips across a guy's backside starts to look like something other than a kilt. Yes, I've seen historic kilts with tiny pleats, but, in the current world of kiltmaking, I think it looks odd.

And, as an aside, something is odd about this kilt, because it has "the wave" going on at the bottom. Either the hip measurement is too big across the back, or the pleats aren't pressed straight parallel to a tartan line from the bottom of the fell to the bottom of the kilt (i.e., the pleats are pressed with a flare). Dunno which. Could be both. The fact that the kilt dips in between the butt cheeks suggests it's at least partly the former..

[Barb T]

If pleated along the red vertical instead, or is that too narrow?

The red is actually narrower than the green, so it's not likely to work. But! the only way to truly know is to pin up a test with the actual fabric (at a reasonable pleat width, of course, with whatever taper is likely), stand back about 15', and see what it looks like. Some people try to do this by cloning elements in PhotoShop. While this will give you a general idea, it won't really tell you what the kilt will look like.

And standing back 15-20' is critical. No one (hopefully!) is looking at your kilt at a distance of 10" from your back side, so don't sit at a table and lean over your pleated test and try to decide if you like it or not!!!

[plaid preacher]

Hi Terry. Sorry for the delay I was struggling to get good photos and then to post them here. Here is what I finally ended up with after several different pinnings at Kilt Kamp a couple of years ago. I am partial to pleating to the stripe, but since there aren't any natural stripes to pleat to we ended up with this. This is comprised of the beige stripe that runs through the red block (the first full element shown on the apron edge to the left in the photo). To achieve the stripe I centred the edge of the stripe. I like this pleating because it maintains the tonal qualities of the tartan. The others that we experimented with pulled the pleats into a different tonal shade and lost some of the brightness.... I thought.

I have another photo of a different pleating to the block at home...and will try to post it later, if this works.

[Terry Searl]

This is the original picture Terry sent to me as we were talking about how he wanted his next kilt to be pleated.



And it was this photo which lead to this discussion. I call this "The Maple Leaf thing".

You are right Steve and I always value your opinion. It does look like the pleating is pressed horribly now that I have other photos to compare it with. I never really thought that this topic would generate so much interest and am really glad it has , especially the photos. Somewhere in the X Marks the Scot mandate it states that one of the objects of X MARKS the Scot is to teach about kilts as well as give a platform for people to express their opinion respectfully. I really do believe that in that regard XMtS has done this to the highest level......thank you so much for the pleasure I get from reading all the aspects ........Keep it up !

[Terry Searl]

Hi Terry. Sorry for the delay I was struggling to get good photos and then to post them here. Here is what I finally ended up with after several different pinnings at Kilt Kamp a couple of years ago. I am partial to pleating to the stripe, but since there aren't any natural stripes to pleat to we ended up with this. This is comprised of the beige stripe that runs through the red block (the first full element shown on the apron edge to the left in the photo). To achieve the stripe I centred the edge of the stripe. I like this pleating because it maintains the tonal qualities of the tartan. The others that we experimented with pulled the pleats into a different tonal shade and lost some of the brightness.... I thought.

I have another photo of a different pleating to the block at home...and will try to post it later, if this works.

Thank you so much for the photo It is giving me another pleating option and more info to discuss with Steve Ashton when we get to the kilt building stage......thanx again

[plaid preacher]

Terry, and I discovered one day when I flipped my kilt over that the pleats on the inside showed this.



This was one of the other alternatives that we explored, except everything is tinged green and the pleats looked very dark - to me.

RLA

[Farmer Jones]

Not brilliant photos as I have just taken them in a hurry with a cell phone, but side by side they illustrate what happens to the Maple Leaf when pleated differently.

[plaid preacher]

Farmer Jones, I think your first photo is close to the one I posted immediately above your post. I like the pleat to sett, can you take a photo of the fell? As I recall when I tried to lay out to the sett I would loose elements at the top of the fell. It is a great tartan though. Well worth the bother of finding the right pleating pattern.

[Terry Searl]

Thank-you so much for the photos......as they say a picture is worth a thousand words
Cheers!