An interesting example of pleating to stripe

[mudd]

You should have done it in a box pleat.

But seriously, that's a beautiful Kilt, as usual.

[cessna152towser]

That's a very smart looking kilt.

[JRB]

Very, very nice. The pleats look perfect. This thread makes me wonder, are there a lot of tartans out there that are problematic when it comes to pleating to sett or to a specific stripe?

[Barb T]

Most don't present many problems, actually. The rare asymmetric tartans are the biggest nightmare for a kiltmaker. But some of the most common tartans (e.g., Black Watch and many of those based on the Black Watch) have the same ABAC sett issue as the Weathered Stewart Old Sett, and, depending upon how the loom was originally set up, the setts can be big. With the Black Watch family tartans, it's commonly possible to "cheat the pleats" and have a pleat every half sett and still pleat accurately to the sett. Even so, it's often necessary to have one or two full sett pleats, which are twice as deep (which doesn't show from the outside of the kilt.)

The only way for a weaver to reduce the sett size in a piece of tartan is to reduce the size of each stripe and block proportionately before threading the loom. There are some limits, though. Each stripe and block contains an even number of threads, so it's commonly easy to halve the sett size but almost impossible to reduce it by, say, 1/3. And no stripe can be less than two threads wide. This latter is the problem with the Weathered Stewart Old Sett. The red stripe is only two threads wide. There's no way to cut down on the size of the sett because there's no way to reduce the red stripe any further. And reducing everything _but_ the red stripe wouldn't preserve the proportions of the tartan.

Cheers,

Barb

[JRB]

Thanks for the enlightenment. That's very interesting. I never would have guessed that a kilt may have pleats of different depths in order to keep to the sett.

[Hamish]

Barb, what can I say? All the superlatives have been used already. I am a huge fan of weathered tartans and you present this one to perfection. Thank you for showing us, and for explaining so clearly the intricacies faced in producing such a gem.

[ChattanCat]

I have pre-ordered The Art of Kiltmaking 2nd edition and cannot wait to start kilt making. I am a Lowry and both the MacLaren and Gordon tartans are gorgeous and will surely pleat to set and to stripe beautifully. Before I found this community I had no idea of the various kilting styles and histories. I am catching some heck from friends for even wanting to wear a kilt, but after my friends scottish wedding two months ago I fell in love and really don't care what anyone says. I am scottish and should be proud of such beautiful attire. They asked me why I would want to dress so "funny" to which I replied, "Well I am an Eagle Scout and had to wear those ugly uniforms that everyone thinks are funny (but respect), a kilt is way better looking than tight-green-unfunctional pants and shorts." They just shut-up and said ok, lol. I plan on starting with solid and working my way up to the expensive tartan's of my heritage. Great community guys, and even greater information. I look forward to being a contributing member and hopefully will have lots of kilts to show off. Who knows, after trying one on my friends might find what I discovered (kilts give a new meaning to the words "Comfortable" and "Going Commando"). I wondered though if there will be a section on military box pleating in the 2nd edition of your book BarbT? If not I have seen some info on here that may get me by. Thank you everyone for all your great information.
Thanks, John William Lowry II

[Warhoover]

Another gem Barb! I am just awestruck at the pleating. Beautiful kilt!

[Barb T]

I am a huge fan of weathered tartans.

So am I, and I would love to make another one from this particular tartan. But Lochcarron has stopped weaving it, probably because of the issue presented by the huge sett size.

I actually bought this piece of tartan five or six years ago to make a kilt for myself. I had ordered a swatch of the tartan and fallen in love with it. Unfortunately, the swatch wasn't big enough to show me the whole sett (note to self here - check more carefully next time....), and I didn't discover it until I actually had the tartan in hand. I had intended to pleat it to the sett, but I quickly abandoned the idea when I saw the tartan. As much as I love pleating to the stripe, the red stripe was too narrow to give a strong vertical element, and my wide little kiester didn't need a bunch of horizontal stripes. So, the tartan just languished on my shelf for several years.

Then I had the brilliant idea to offer it for sale on XMarks, and one of you guys bought it to make a kilt for himself. After another stretch of time, he decided that he really wasn't going to make it himself, so he sent it back to me to make him a kilt. So I got to make the kilt after all!!

Cheers,

Barb

[McMurdo]

So is there any left? Inquiring minds want to know.