Looking for advice on ordering tartan

[Barb T]

Yes - that is the sett size (repeat) listed by one particular mill, but there is no guarantee that the mill that you order tartan from would weave with the same sett size.

Here's my advice. Don't stress. Because you want to make an 8-yard trad kilt, my advice would be to order either 4 or 4 1/4 yards double width. For someone of your size, there is no reason why you can't make a kilt for yourself out of 8 yards of tartan (4 yards double width). If you ordered 4 1/4 yards, you'd have a bit more flexibility in layout, but it wouldn't be essential to making a good looking kilt. I personally don't think you need to know in advance how you intend to pleat the kilt, or even what the sett size is*. If the tartan has a larger sett, you will have fewer, wider pleats. If you pleat to the stripe, you will have more pleats (typically 2-4 more than pleating to the sett), and they will be narrower. You do what the tartan permits you to do, and you have a kilt.


*Even if it is one of the few tartans with a ginormous sett, say 11-16" (and the Modern Lindsay is not one of them), I would not order a lot more tartan just because the sett is huge. I would find a way to pleat the tartan to use an ordinary amount of tartan for the person's size. In other words, if I had tartan with a 15" sett, I wouldn't order 5 yards double width just to make the pleats smaller - someone your size doesn't want to carry that much tartan around in the pleats of the kilt. I would, though, order 1/4 yard more than I normally would just because a bit more tartan gives you flexibility in the center front stripe and in making the center back join (and you need that flexibility if the sett is really big).

Oh - BTW - Dalgliesh doesn't weave 13 oz tartan (they weave only 11 oz and 16 oz tartan). And they don't weave the Modern Lindsay at all except as a custom weave. The sett size they list for custom woven 16 oz Modern Lindsay is 17.8 cm (7"). I think you must have been looking at the 11 oz Lindsay, but it's also only available as a custom weave. And I would advise a heavier weight for a kilt for a man if the tartan is available in heavier weight. Lochcarron carries Modern Lindsay in heavy weight as a stock weave.