Which type of pleats should I choose?

[Oddern]

I got 7 yards of 18 oz Leslie hunting modern. An offer I couldn't refuse. I don't know if I ever will get time to try, but I realy would like to try make a kilt for my self. I bought Barbs book a while ago just to see how it was made.
I would appreciate if some of you would comment on which type of pleat i should choose.

The red stripe,



Or the white stripe,

[sydnie7]

Personally I prefer the red stripe. Whichever you choose, try to center the stripe (you've got the white stripe off to one side in photo above) -- otherwise the stripe may disappear as you taper the pleats toward the waistline. And have fun with it, creating a kilt is a great feeling!

[JolyStNicholas]

I agree, "Red". and the final choice is "YOURS" you do have to wear it.

I personally don't care for "BOX" pleats. But that's just ol'me.

[piperdbh]

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I DO like box pleats, and since you have 7 yards of this tartan, you might consider making a 4-yard, box pleat kilt, and from the remaining 3 yards you could make yourself a half-plaid and a fly plaid, or a special lady in your life could make herself a pleated skirt or any number of things, including a snazzy jacket of some sort (for you or her).

Just a cheapskate's perspective!

[davidlpope]

For this particular tartan I would pleat to the red stripe since it is bordered on both sides by the same color, blue. The white stripe is bordered by two different colors, green and black. Nothing says you can't pleat to a stripe like this, but I think the back of the kilt looks much better when the pleats are consistent.

For what it's worth, I highly recommend 6yd knife pleated kilts in heavyweight tartan. Matt Newsome has made several of these for me and they are wonderful. These have all the benefits of the heavyweight tartan and retain the traditional look of a modern knife pleat kilt (each pleat is a little wider) but are so much better balanced and comfortable to wear.

Having sewn two home-made kilts, I would encourage you to save your pennies and have Matt sew this up for you. His craftsmanship is superb and the fit will be excellent. There are certain skills (kilt-making, surgery...) that come as a result of repeating the same techniques over and over. In my mind the trade-off between cost savings and the quality of the finished product leans to having the pros do it.

Best of luck either way!

Cordially,

David

[Oddern]

For this particular tartan I would pleat to the red stripe since it is bordered on both sides by the same color, blue. The white stripe is bordered by two different colors, green and black. Nothing says you can't pleat to a stripe like this, but I think the back of the kilt looks much better when the pleats are consistent.

Having sewn two home-made kilts, I would encourage you to save your pennies and have Matt sew this up for you. His craftsmanship is superb and the fit will be excellent. There are certain skills (kilt-making, surgery...) that come as a result of repeating the same techniques over and over. In my mind the trade-off between cost savings and the quality of the finished product leans to having the pros do it.

You are right about the bordering colors hmm.. Have to think about this.
Regarding having Matt sew it up; I live in Norway and it would cost me a fortune just in freight and not to forget the Norwegian tax, it's awful.

[JSFMACLJR]

and from the remaining 3 yards you could make yourself a half-plaid and a fly plaid,:

What is a half-plaid?

[piperdbh]

Sandy,
Here's a link to Matt Newsome's blog entry about half-plaids. It's basically the upper part of a great kilt, only detachable.

http://kiltmaker.blogspot.com/search/label/plaid

[Oddern]

Heres the cloth with the white stripes more centered.

[ForresterModern]

I personally like the white stripe precisely because it does have two colors on eitherside of it, putting a bit more green on the back instead of predominantly blue. The white stipe seems dominant in the tartan and when pleated to the red you practically lose all the white (except for the horizontal whites, of course). To the white stripe lets the kilt still look similar enough to the original tartan color balance while to the red stripe makes the whole pleated section pretty much red and blue (except for the horizontal green and white, now minor influences compared to the original whole tartan). But that is just me---I am pretty much a pleat to the sett kind of guy anyway.