Pleating alternative?

[New World Czech]

I found a Gunn-ish tartan fabric 6 yards @ 54" on a clearance for $4/yd. I have been thinking about the pleating of a 6" sett. What does the Rabble think of pleating to alternating stripes to achieve a 4" deep vs. 2 3/4" deep pleating to the red or green only.

[Pleater]

Good find - that is an amazing price.

I'm just working on a kilt which has a small sett and by pleating to alternate red and white stripes I get a fairly standard pleat size, rather than too few deep pleats or too many shallow ones. I think it is a good option to try.

You could look at one pleat which is the blue band with no stripe, one pleat with the red stripe.

That might be less busy.

The tartan I am using is bands of dark colours so the background to the stripes is constant rather than contrasting.

I'm just suggesting that as another option to try before settling on the final design. So much depends on the exact shades of colours.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[sydnie7]

Barb T recommends pinning up several variations and then standing back, across the room, to look at them. You can do this across a single area of fabric so that your choices appear side-by-side, giving you the opportunity to compare and decide which one you like best.

[xman]

What does the Rabble think of pleating to alternating stripes to achieve a 4" deep vs. 2 3/4" deep pleating to the red or green only.

I would advise against this. I have a kilt with pleats that deep and it transfers a lot of weight over to the left 'flank' leaving the right 'flank' a little bare and the whole kilt less balanced.

[Pleater]

I would advise against this. I have a kilt with pleats that deep and it transfers a lot of weight over to the left 'flank' leaving the right 'flank' a little bare and the whole kilt less balanced.

These days I always make a reverse Kingussie style, so the left and right are mirror images - I did not take the standard knife pleat into consideration - though making a deep last and under apron pleat would even that up a bit - wouldn't it?

It is a long time since I made and wore a knife pleat.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[piperdbh]

Could we see some pictures of your reverse Kingussies, Anne? I'm thinking that's the style for my next kilt, although that's going to be a long way down the road.

[Pleater]

We do have cameras - we also have offspring - when I dare to venture into the dismal regions of the nether house (that is what was the back bedroom before the doom descended upon it) to reclaim the latest one, then I will be able to create images again.

It will have to be done soon, or it might never be seen again.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[xman]

... I did not take the standard knife pleat into consideration - though making a deep last and under apron pleat would even that up a bit - wouldn't it?

It might, but by then you're cutting in to the already fewer pleats to sew and that last pleat and reverse pleat would end up being 7" deep! Even then I'm not sure it would be much better. It's really not a severe liability or anything and I'm happy with my kilt, but in striving to make the best garment every time, I would make a different choice next time.

The Kingussie is a good idea to combat this though. A 4 yd. box pleat would do fine as well.

[Calico]

Could we see some pictures of your reverse Kingussies, Anne?

I would like to see some pics of those, as well. That's what I think I'll be doing with the Cthulhu tartan when it arrives.

Or maybe I'll pleat it horizontally instead of vertically. That should help drive everyone mad!

[sydnie7]

FYI there are pictures of Rev Kingussie pleating in the XKilt manual addendum (along with basic instructions on laying out this pleat pattern).