Pleat size and number

[BertMcG]

Hi, I'm pretty new to kilt making and I'm starting work on a new kilt in Black Watch tartan with a 9" sett. I'm going to pleat to the stripe, am I better off with fewer and deeper pleats using the full 9" ? Or with this tartan I can cut the sett in half and pleat to the black stripe on the green band giving me more pleats but about the same amount of fabric, any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

[usonian]

More experienced kiltmakers than myself can correct me if I'm wrong, believe pleating to the single black stripe on green is how Black Watch is typically done (when not pleating to the sett.) I asked a similar question when planning my Murray of Atholl kilt (which is based on Black Watch but with red stripes instead of black on the green fields) and that was the advice I received:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-pleats-73463/

It turned out great!

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...03#post1096003

[OC Richard]

The former Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders had kilts pleated like this; you can see all the hallmarks of a military kilt: high rise, two-prong buckles, and in this case box pleats. Odd that it doesn't have the grass-green herringbone binding normally seen on military kilts. As you can see the Argylls pleated their kilts to the dark line in the green.



And the back of a Black Watch kilt (in this case The Royal Highlanders Of Canada) knifepleated. As you can see the pleats alternate between showing the double black line in the blue, and plain blue. Here the typical grass-green herringbone binding can be clearly seen, as can the flimsy painted cloth tabs for the buckles.



Here's the front of an Argylls kilt, for reference



Here's it with the rosettes missing. You can see the embroidery pattern.



and the front of a Black Watch kilt

[BertMcG]

Great photos, thanks OC Richard. I think I will do the knife pleats like The Royal Highlanders Of Canada, do you think chalk marks to centre the plain blue pleats or is there a better way?

[BertMcG]

Thanks, your kilt looks great, looks like you have about 28 pleats, I'd end up with 26 using 1/2 sett. I was just looking at the pleats on a Black Watch kilt where they seemed to use the 1/2 sett to the double black stripe on the blue then the blue with no stripe. It seems it would be difficult to keep the pleat with no stripe centred and straight, what do you think of using chalk marks on the pleats with no stripe?

[Arnot]

It seems it would be difficult to keep the pleat with no stripe centred and straight, what do you think of using chalk marks on the pleats with no stripe?

I recently made 6 Black Watch kilts for a pipe band. The pleats were done in the manner described here. I didn't center the pleats with no stripe. I kept the edge of the blue straight and measured/folded the pleats from there.

[The Wizard of BC]

Please remember that the Full Sett of the Black Watch Tartan is not -from the black line in one lighter green band to the black line in the next lighter green band.

To visualize the Full Sett of Black Watch look at the black lines in the Blue Bands. One have two lines near the center and the next blue band has four black lines spaced apart.

So, a Full Sett is from Lighter green, skip one light green, and the next light green.

On my Royal Regt. 16oz kilt, the Full Sett size is 14" and half Sett size is 7".

[BertMcG]

Please remember that the Full Sett of the Black Watch Tartan is not -from the black line in one lighter green band to the black line in the next lighter green band.

Thanks, yes this is only 13oz, full sett is 9" half is 4 1/2" that will make about 26 smaller pleats, I think I'd prefer that to 15 larger full sett pleats