I own a heavy wool (16oz?) Seaforth military box pleated kilt that is currently too small for me. I'm guessing it to be 28-29" and I wear 36" kilts. Upon close inspection I see that the first pleat on each side is about 4" deep and they're not sewn through the neighbouring pleats (at least that's how it looks to me). My question is, can the stitching on the first and last pleats be removed to add approximately 8" to the waist?

Here's what the outside of the kilt looks like.


Here's the view from the underside. The white arrow shows the first pleat.


If the kilt cannot be let out at the waist, could the kilt be easily shortened to accommodate a shorter wearer?

Last, where could one purchase good quality replacement buckles?