Preparing to make my first kilt.

[Steve Ashton]

Not everyone grasps the concept of how to lay out pleats for display to Sett from the first reading of TAoK. It can be so confusing that when Barb teaches kiltmaking she needs at least one full day just to explain it. And then the next full day answering questions about it to each person individually.

May I offer an alternative method.

You begin by using a method from High School Geometry class that allows you to divide any line into (a close approximation) of any number of equal spaces.

This is called A Magic Starburst. A set of lines that start at the top, at a single point and radiate out to any number of equally spaced divisions at the bottom.




Notice please, the arrows in the center. The bottom arrow points to where the spacing equals 1.25" The next higher arrow is at spacing of 1". Then .525". The top arrow is the width of the pleats at the waist just for visual reference to check the Tartan at the top of the taper.


You then cut a small section of the center of your Tartan from the top band. This should be long enough to reach around your hips in the back with your chosen center stripe in the middle.



Iron on a piece of non roll waistband interfacing to keep the strip stable.

You can then lay the fabric strip directly onto the magic starburst. Move the strip side to side until one pivot point is on one line and the next pivot point on any other line. You have just divided your Tartan Sett into an equal number of divisions.



But these divisions may not be ideal in the tapered section of the Fell. The idea is that you retain the look of the full Tartan. No element should be cut off when the pleats taper smaller.

You do this by moving the fabric strip side to side until it looks good.

You should be able to see that in this example the red lines may be cut off when tapered.




If you do not find a suitable set of division lines you repeat this process with more or fewer divisions per Sett. Move the fabric up and down to align pivot points and then side to side to compare the Tartan pattern to the tapered width.

The width of each individual pleat should be no wider at the hip line than about 1.25 inches and no narrower than .625 inches. How much each pleat tapers depends on your shape.
At some place on the starburst you will find a set of divisions that meet the width you want and will pleat up and taper nicely.

All you need to do now is mark the interfacing so that your tartan strip is divided into a number of equally spaced division, Mark and count the number of pleats from end to end of the strip that is long enough to reach across the width of your butt.



You can now lay your tartan strip directly onto your kilt fabric and mark the pleats.



When you are all done and your kilt is sewn, you will be able to lay your fabric strip right onto the pleats of your kilt - and everything will line up perfectly.








Now, I will include a caution - Barb Tewksbury does not like my Magic Starburst method of laying out pleats.
I guess it is too mechanical, too much of the thinking of an engineer. I suspect that she prefers to keep the "art" in "The Art of Kiltmaking".

But I used this method in my kilt shop for almost 20 years. I also taught it to my students at my half of Kilt Kamps. In fact it is one of my students, who had taken Barb's course the previous year, who took my class the next and exclaimed, "That just makes too much sense. It's almost like magic. A Magic Starburst."

When I retired I found that I had a collection of over 450 Tartan strips all marked out to pleat to Sett. (this is just a very small sample) I never found a single Tartan that this method did not work with.
a starburst permanently on my layout table I could lay out and mark an entire kilt in about 2-3 hours.