Hi Andrew

I agree pretty much with what Robert said except for a couple little things:

-I just mark the center of the pleat with one chalk line (less marks on the tartan). Then, when I'm pleating, I just center the chalk line, measure for the pleat, and stitch.

-A 5-6" sett is rather a small sett for tartan. Remember that pleat depth (that's the hidden part - the distance that your fingers would go into a pleat if you stuck your fingers in) will be roughly half the size of the sett. So, a 5" sett will have pleats about 2.5" deep. A 6" sett will have pleats about 3" deep. If you're making a self-color kilt (plain color), you can choose how deep to make the pleats. Just decide how deep you want the pleats to be, double that, and put your pleat marks that far apart.

Cheers,

Barb