How do you hand-stitch a Box Pleat?

[Packhound]

Okay,

I am trying to hand-stitch a box-pleated kilt. I am using a Stewart Black tartan and the size of the sett is such that I find that I can get a full sett repeat with each pleat (a total of seven pleats).

My problem is that I just cannot seem to find the best way to stitch the pleats together and (1) make the tartan lines match, and (2) lay nice and flat without the stitches showing.

I have been matching up the edges of each adjacent pleat and stitching them together -- similar to the way that Barb's book shows to stitch one knife-pleat to the next. Am I on the right track or totally off-base?

[way2fractious]

Okay,

I am trying to hand-stitch a box-pleated kilt. I am using a Stewart Black tartan and the size of the sett is such that I find that I can get a full sett repeat with each pleat (a total of seven pleats).

My problem is that I just cannot seem to find the best way to stitch the pleats together and (1) make the tartan lines match, and (2) lay nice and flat without the stitches showing.

I have been matching up the edges of each adjacent pleat and stitching them together -- similar to the way that Barb's book shows to stitch one knife-pleat to the next. Am I on the right track or totally off-base?

Once you have the tapers marked, just edge stitch pleat edge to the next mark. The material underneath folds out into the "box" later.

[Alan H]

Once you have the tapers marked, just edge stitch pleat edge to the next mark. The material underneath folds out into the "box" later.

Exactly.

And here's the thing. One reason you hand-stitch a kilt is because you can more easily hide the stitching. Machine-stitched knife-pleat kilts are top-stitched and the stitching shows. But with a box-pleat put together how w2f describes, you can machine-sew the kilt and NO STITCHING SHOWS.... you get a straighter line in your taper and a stronger join.

Just my dos centavos. (I made mine this way).

[MacWage]

OK, I'll say what I do. I'm not sure if it's "right" or not, just that it works.

First:
I take a chalk/marking pencil (the white thing available in fabric stores). I measure and DRAW the lines for each and every side of the pleat, one pleat stitch at a time.
I then start and make an "anchor stitch" about 1 inch or so from the bottom of the fell. I sew DOWN to the bottom of the fell (using WIDE stitches). I then go up with small stitches, all the way to the top of the fell. Then I go parallel to the tartan lines all the way up the rise. I use the lines in the tartan as "adjustment" points for the thread and needle to be aligned ALL the way up the fell.
The darting is done on BOTH sides of the stitch, every pleat seam.

Basically, it is the same as Barb's book (as best as I can remember-> someone is borrowing my copy). The MAIN differences are that the "veeing" of the dart is much more severe (less seams/pleats to make the adjustments between hips and waist) and the fabric inside the pleat is laid out as a box, rather than off to one side. The key in getting THAT to work is to have the front and back faces being the SAME and the transitions between them being 1/2 the facing (so, 1/3 of the sett is the front face, 1/3 is the rear face, and 1/3 is the between parts -1/6 each side).

Make sense? I am probably using all the wrong terminology.

[Packhound]

One reason you hand-stitch a kilt is because you can more easily hide the stitching. Machine-stitched knife-pleat kilts are top-stitched and the stitching shows. But with a box-pleat put together how w2f describes, you can machine-sew the kilt and NO STITCHING SHOWS.... you get a straighter line in your taper and a stronger join.

...I then start and make an "anchor stitch" about 1 inch or so from the bottom of the fell. I sew DOWN to the bottom of the fell (using WIDE stitches). I then go up with small stitches, all the way to the top of the fell. Then I go parallel to the tartan lines all the way up the rise. I use the lines in the tartan as "adjustment" points for the thread and needle to be aligned ALL the way up the fell.
The darting is done on BOTH sides of the stitch, every pleat seam.

Basically, it is the same as Barb's book (as best as I can remember-> someone is borrowing my copy). The MAIN differences are that the "veeing" of the dart is much more severe (less seams/pleats to make the adjustments between hips and waist) ...

Make sense? I am probably using all the wrong terminology.

Thanks to ALL of you. When you start working on a project it sometimes seems to "work" differently than you pictured it beforehand.

The reason I wanted to hand-stitch is exactly for the reason Alan mentioned -- I wanted to hide the stitching. Before your replies I was trying to "whip stitch" two folds together with the expected results of stitches showing. Now , if I understand correctly, I stitch ONE folded edge to the FLATTENED fabric of the next pleat at the pleat marks.

I like your technique, MacWage, of "double" stitching the bottom of the fell. I would think that would give extra reinforcement to bottom of the fell.

One thing that I noticed when laying out the pleats was how much sharper the tapers are. I have seven pleats and the difference from waist to hips is only about 2 inches, but splitting that out over so few pleats is NOT subtle.

Thanks again. Now maybe I can get this completed before the end of this month. My wife and I are going to a festival a little bit south of us where I understand that there will be many kilted folks. It would be my first outing kilted. Hey!!!