The Art of Kiltmaking

[OC Richard]

Your phrase, "Pleating to the block", seems to be your personal phrase or perhaps the one used in your local circle.

I got the phrase from Iain Sherwood, proprietor of Cuillin Craft. He implies that that phrase was used in the Highland Outfitter/kiltmaking business he worked for in Scotland. You'd have to ask him about his source for that phrase. I don't know the name of the company in Scotland he was employed at.

It's a useful phrase for the method of pleating to an area of the tartan which has no vertical elements at all, that is, to a large vacant area of the sett. When I think of "pleating to the line" I think of each pleat having a prominent vertical line.

In many cases it's not clear, at distance, whether the pleat has no vertical element at all, or merely a very weak vertical element. So sometimes the difference is simply one of visual effect.

Here's an example:



At first glance there's no vertical element in the pleats, but maybe it's pleated to the pairs of rust lines in the purple band.

[davidlpope]

It's a useful phrase for the method of pleating to an area of the tartan which has no vertical elements at all, that is, to a large vacant area of the sett. When I think of "pleating to the line" I think of each pleat having a prominent vertical line.

This "pleating to the block" idea is still "pleating to the line". The only distinction is whether the vertical element that exists in the section of the tartan used for that pleat encompasses the entire width of the pleat or not. In other words, you're still pleating to a line, but the line/stripe is so broad that it is the only design element seen on that portion of the pleat, which I guess leads one to think that there is no vertical element. I appreciate that most kilts pleated to the line are pleated to a narrow line (usually four to eight threads wide) which produces the clear and unique vertical element centered on the pleat that you are alluding to, but this doesn't change the fact that it isn't a separate type of pleating. In my mind it's a distinction without a difference.

As Steve has pointed out below, the key fact that distinguishes the two types of pleating is whether the same design element is replicated on every pleat (pleating to the line) or the pleating replicates the full sett across the back of the pleat (pleating to the sett).

David