Cautionary tale about hemming a dress tartan

[Barb T]

Here's an old sewing (not necessarily kiltmaking) tip for hems that bleed through. Try using a thin, opaque interfacing/interlining inside the hem fold. It might not work with kilts because it adds another layer when there's already so much fabric with the pleats, but maybe it's worth a try.

That's a really good idea for the apron of the kilt. It wouldn't work in the pleats because of bulk (as you say), but for a dancer, the front is the part of the kilt that's going to be most obvious on stage. Sometimes it might be completely unavoidable to have a dark stripe behind a white block in a hem (either because of the layout of the tartan or because you're putting a hem up or down), and that would at least solve the problem in the apron. I'll remember that one!