Question about sewn down pleats

[The Wizard of BC]

And please don't confuse a sewn down and tapered Fell with edge stitching along the edge of each pleat.
Each pleat edge will have a line of machine stitching along its length about 1/8" away from the edge.
This is necessary on Cotton and Cotton blend fabrics because they will not hold a crease as well as Wool. Some companies top stitch only on the outside of the pleat and some do both the "out-pleat" and "in-pleat".

[Barb T]

And sewing the pleats down along the fell is what gives the kilt its distinctive swing. A proper kilt should have a fell that is 1/3 the total length of the kilt. If it's too long (more than 1/3), the kilt won't have any swing. If it's too short (or not there at all), the swing isn't controlled, and the back just kind of flaps around.

You can see this at dance competitions, because dancer's kilts typically have hems and get traded around. Hems go up and down like the stock market. Although a kilt might be the right length, the fell might not be, and some kilts swing noticeably better than others.

It's particularly noticeable when a kilt has been let down so that there's no hem at all left. Because a kiltmaker will typically put at least a 3" hem in a dancer's kilt, a kilt should have the fell stitched down an extra inch or more if the hem is let down 3-4". If the fell was only 6 or 7" to start with, that's a fair percentage that the fell is short. If you watch that dancer, the back of the kilt flies around instead of having that nice controlled swing that you see in a properly fitting kilt.

B