US Navy Tartan Pleated to the Sett?

**Chaps** · 27th June 14, 12:28 AM

I just received my new US Navy Edzell kilt. I put it on and wore it home. As I hung it up I noticed the pleats. It did not look like it was pleated to the sett as the white lines alternate in their distance apart. It looks like it may have been pleated to the sett based on the very faint red lines of the tartan. Is this right?

navy tartan.jpg

**Calgacus** · 27th June 14, 02:31 AM

I'm not quite sure why it's been done like that. It definitely looks deliberate, but it's not pleating to the sett as I know it!

Maybe one of the kiltmakers on the forum can chime in, there may well be good reason for doing it like that but it doesn't look right to me.

**Pleater** · 27th June 14, 08:23 AM

It just looks wrong to me - perhaps it is a result of miss-measurement, but it seems strange to go ahead and make the kilt.

The white lines on the waist band are equal distances apart, and those in the pleats ought to be too.

Pleating to the set should result in as close a reproduction of the set as the measurements allow, with the pleats places within the sett so as to cause minimum inverted V's with the tapering. There might be some compromises but - that just doesn't look right to me as an example of pleating to the sett.

It is not unpleasant as a kilt, but - is the pattern correctly centred? When pleating to the sett usually the dominant band of the sett is placed at the centre back - to match the centre front.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

**Chaps** · 27th June 14, 08:40 AM

The center pattern in back is more narrow than the center pattern in front. I will see the shop owner tomorrow where I bought the kilt and see what can be done.

**chasem** · 27th June 14, 09:06 AM

How much material is in the kilt? The pleats look like they may be wide enough - depending on the size of the kilt - that it may be in the neighborhood of 6 yards. If that's the case, it may have been difficult to duplicate the sett in the pleats, in which case an approximation may happen.

It looks like an extra pleat could have been used between the white stripes in the lighter blue to space them out a little more, but you're looking at at least three more pleats that way, and the fabric might have been there for that.

That's not to say there's not a better/different solution

ETA: the white stripes in the Edzell tartan actually aren't equally spaced, but it's the darker blue that is surrounded by the closer stripes rather than the lighter blue as in your kilt. So in my mind it would have made more sense to do two pleats of light blue between the whites and one pleat of dark blue rather than the opposite as it appears on your kilt.

**Chaps** · 27th June 14, 09:10 AM

It is a 5 yard kilt.

**WillowEstate** · 27th June 14, 11:30 AM

It's actually not dissimilar to my budget PV Mackenzie kilt which is pleated to the white grid because the sett (to the red grid) was presumably considered too large. It resulted in the white grid on the back being narrower horizontally than vertically and all the vertical red lines were hidden.

I also asked a friend, who made a couple of kilts when her sons were asked to be pageboys at her sister's wedding, about this technique in general and she offered an opinion that in a smaller yardage kilt, it may be done to increase the number of pleats.

**BCAC** · 27th June 14, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by WillowEstate

It's actually not dissimilar to my budget PV Mackenzie kilt which is pleated to the white grid because the sett (to the red grid) was presumably considered too large. It resulted in the white grid on the back being narrower horizontally than vertically and all the vertical red lines were hidden.

I also asked a friend, who made a couple of kilts when her sons were asked to be pageboys at her sister's wedding, about this technique in general and she offered an opinion that in a smaller yardage kilt, it may be done to increase the number of pleats.

Rocky posted about this. For small yardage kilts there is not enough cloth to do proper pleating to the set. He said it's called "cheating the set". You have to have more yards otherwise it's not possible.

**Chaps** · 27th June 14, 05:22 PM

Thanks, with just a five yard kilt the kiltmaker must have made the choice on the best way to make the pleats and still try have something that resembles the pattern on the front of the kilt. Here is what the front looks like. (Sorry for the selfie as my wife is out of town and my son was too busy with his computer games to take the picture.) Also, too focused on lining up the picture to have my typical new kilt grin.New kilt2.jpg