Advice few sewing box pleats?

[Bugbear]

Guess you tack down the inside part of the box somewhere up near the top, maybe when the stabilizer goes in...

[ChattanCat]

Ok, I've mostly got it this time. thank you, Barb, for your tutelage and your patience. I'll quote the part I'm having trouble with.

"Place the cloth with the seam side down on the table, and the "tubes" up. Flatten each tube, laying half the tube down on one side of the seam and half on the other. Voila - an instant box pleat from each tube"

Once you "flatten each tube" (this makes the box pleats on the outside), how do you stitch those "tubes" down without the stitching showing? Once you flatten them, you have to do something to keep them flat, right?

You need to add a few stitches at the bottom of the fell. Take the two edges that are next to each other, one from each adjoing box pleat on the inside. Then add a few stitches to hold them together. The top band and canvas will hold the top of the pleats together.

[ardchoille]

You need to add a few stitches at the bottom of the fell. Take the two edges that are next to each other, one from each adjoing box pleat on the inside. Then add a few stitches to hold them together. The top band and canvas will hold the top of the pleats together.

For clarification, stitching box pleats is _not_ done by folding two pleat edges toward one another and then stitching the two edges together.

Ok, now I see the source of my confusion.. I thought the entire edge of each outside box pleat had to be stitched, but I was wrong about that. Now it all makes sense. I shall try to incorporate these new techniques.

Thank you kind folks for helping me understand all of this.

[Barb T]

Just as in a knife pleat, you stitch only the fell. The pleats are left open below the bottom of the fell.

The loops that you've flattened into box pleats on the wrong side of the kilt are held in place at the bottom of the fell by steeking, but, as Wally says, the steeking is done differently than in a knife pleated kilt (because there isn't enough thickness to stitch without going through tio the front side of the kilt). At the bottom of the fell on the inside of the kilt, just stitch the two adjacent folds together with a couple of stitches, carry the thread across the pleat, and stitch again at the bottom of the next fell. Continue carrying and stitching across the back. Repeat about halfway up the pleat.

Don't cut out the pleats. Just put on a stabilizer (yes - that holds the pleats at the top), and cover the whole thing with canvas and lining.

[fluter]

"Place the cloth with the seam side down on the table, and the "tubes" up...

Once you "flatten each tube" (this makes the box pleats on the outside),

Just to be sure we're all on the same page: the "seam side" is the outside or right side of the proto-kilt. The "tube side" is the inside.

We have hand-stitched the outside seam of the two box pleats, from the top, just as in The Book---except with a fold and one layer of fabric. With a knife pleated trad kilt, the next pleat would be folded already, and we'd stitch the edge of the "current" pleat to two layers of the next pleat.

I was confused about the process, as the only box pleat I'd done was a top-stitched X-kilt. The light dawned when Barb said: you stitch it just like a knife pleat, then open the pleat inside. If I'm still confused, someone please correct me.

[ardchoille]

I assume from your first post that you are working in tartan? If so, the following are the easiest directions for doing box pleats.

The simplest thing to do is to pin and sew one pleat at a time, just like you do for a trad kilt. So, if you've pinned everything, I'd take it all out before you start - just keep track of where you want the edges of the pleats to be.

Hold the kilt so that the top edge is at the left and the bottom edge at the right (you'll be pleating away from you, starting at the apron edge. Fold and baste the edge of the apron. Locate where the edge of the first pleat will be, lap the folded apron edge along that line, and stitch on the outside by hand using a blind stitch _through only one thickness of fabric_ (this is different than pleating a knife-pleated kilt).

Locate the other edge of the first pleat, and fold it along that line (don't press). Locate the edge of the second pleat, and lap the fold of the first one along that line. Stitch along the edge using a blind stitch. Fold, lap, stitch until you've sewn all the pleats.

Work your way across the back of the kilt. When you're done, you'll have 8 or 9 big loops of fabric on the back of the kilt. Flip the kilt over, front down. Flatten the "loops" into box pleats.

After I figured out how to do this, I took a 2 yard length of scrap 11 ounce tartan and used the above method to sew in 4 box pleats. After the pleats were hand-sewn in, I took the ends of the piece and stretched them - trying to see how much stress the hand stitches would take - and none of the stitching ripped. I was pulling pretty hard and expected at least some of the stitches to pop but none of them did and 13/16 ounce tartan is more rugged than what I was testing. I know the stabilizer and interfacing take the stress off the seams but I wanted to see how the seams handle it. I was pleasantly surprised.

[Bugbear]

Handsewn stitches seem to make stronger seams...