Help with pleating to the sett

**Kilted Taper** · 27th November 06, 01:37 PM

Though I am not done with the Anderson I started, I decided to get the US Bicent. kilt started. I am hoping to pleat to the sett, but I am having some problems.

From the center back stripe to the last pleat after the front apron I have 13 pleats. If I understand correctly, I will need to have 12 more pleats after (towards under apron). Barb's book says the last pleat should mirror the first pleat. However, when I do the 12 additional pleats it doesn't end where it should. If I do 11 it does.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

**RockyR** · 27th November 06, 02:39 PM

you may have skipped 1 pleat somewhere...

**Alan H** · 27th November 06, 08:18 PM

I'm having the same issue on my current kilt...Maybe I should re-count.

**Kilted Taper** · 30th November 06, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by Alan H

I'm having the same issue on my current kilt...Maybe I should re-count.

Alan-

Any luck figuring it out? I swear I've counted 20 times and still ending in the wrong spot.

**Pleater** · 30th November 06, 09:24 AM

You need to look at the pattern - thats how I work, and I tend to look for easy options. Capitals are for emphasis only.<G>

To start from the basic concept, when pleating to the set you are recreating the set in the pleats, and I try to arrange a full number of sets, and an odd number if possible so there is a CENTRE BACK SET (and also a centre front one, but that can most easily be be fudged at the edges of the apron).

Now if your PLEATED SET has an odd number of visible folds then there will be a fold in the centre of each one and you will have a centre back FOLD. If the set has been pleated with an even number of folds then there will be two folds equally spaced each side of the centre back, and an equal number of pleats counting outwards from the middle of the space.

I regard making a kilt as an Engineering project - so when it looks right, it is right.

Sorry if any errors have crept in, I am using the cheap keyboard which came with the new computer as the nice racing model I had hoped to be able to use can not talk to it (stupid machine) So I am now trying to use a tiddly little one which rattles like whatsit, and also is black with white letters rather than vice versa, plus I have put my reading glasses somewhere safe!!! Ergnomics, nill, agronomics rules!!

**Kilted Taper** · 1st December 06, 09:36 AM

I *think* I may have figured it out. Broke down last night and just decided to fold and pin the pleats to get a good visual of what was going on. Turns out, my pleat marks were WAY off. When I did it to what looked right to me I ended where I believe I should be. I've attached a picture to hopefully help illustrate. But I've got 12 pleats either side of the center pleat so that was good, but do they begin and end as they should?

**turpin** · 27th November 06, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by Kilted Taper

Though I am not done with the Anderson I started, I decided to get the US Bicent. kilt started. I am hoping to pleat to the sett, but I am having some problems.

From the center back stripe to the last pleat after the front apron I have 13 pleats. If I understand correctly, I will need to have 12 more pleats after (towards under apron). Barb's book says the last pleat should mirror the first pleat. However, when I do the 12 additional pleats it doesn't end where it should. If I do 11 it does.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you sure you mean center back stripe or pleat? Barb's book says from the center back pleat you should have the same number of pleats to the right as to the left of it (page 63). Or is it that your center pleat is centered on a stripe? With 12 to the left do you end up too far along in the sett, or short?

**Kilted Taper** · 5th December 06, 12:38 PM

I think I may be putting the US Bicentennial off to the side for now and work on the County Cavan Irish tartan I have. That seems a little easier. May have to do the US to the stripe, wich is a little dissapointing.

**JimB** · 5th December 06, 01:13 PM

I really don't know how anyone could tell if you were just a little off.
It looks good to me. Nobody is going to count these pleats when you're wearing it are they? I'm making kilts too and I want mine to be as perfect as they can be, but I just don't know how anyone is going to tell on this.

I like that logic... "if it looks right, then it is right."

**Pleater** · 5th December 06, 05:57 PM

The red band is the obvious vertical - your centre back should be the point between the two sets of three white lines. It really can't be anywhere else without making the kilt look lopsided.

When pleating to the sett the whole idea is to recreate perfectly the pattern in the pleated section, and you would usually have a strong vertical band either centre back or have two equidistant from the centre back. You would also try to have the same situation on the front.

The sides are not as important - fudge them as best you can without compromising the placing of the red verticals. The ideal is to have a whole number of repeats around the kilt, so the edges of the pleated section are not really obvious.

The amount of fabric on each side will be the same even if you have apparently one less pleat on the right, as there is an approximately double width pleat as the last pleat - I wonder if the reason there is a larger pleat there is because the same thing happens regularly when pleating to the sett and it just evens things up?

Hmm - lightbulb going on moment?

You then have the two under apron pleats and the aprons and have the same amount of material on both sides of the centre back.