Enlarged Sett

[creagdhubh]

Wow, many thanks for your most informative and educational post, Calgacus. That was almost too much math for me! I realise that I have a lot to think about and that's precisely the reason why I have no intent of rushing the process by any means. I feel that this forum, in many ways, is an invaluable resouce and I thank you all for your continued assistance, recommendations, advice, and support!

Cheers,

[figheadair]

Jock mentioned Dalgliesh's 18oz cloth, it's their F1 range. Warning, technical speak coming up - it's produced by double slaying their K7 yarn to make a denser cloth.

[HarveyH]

Jock mentioned Dalgliesh's 18oz cloth, it's their F1 range. Warning, technical speak coming up - it's produced by double slaying their K7 yarn to make a denser cloth.

I'm delighted to hear that you can get Dalgleish to weave this.

I've been speaking to my own kilt maker about this recently. After he organized Jock's kilt he spoke with Dalgleish about a heavier weight cloth and was told that they can't remember the last time they did 18oz and that they would only be willing to do it if a whole bolt of cloth was ordered - I am afraid that the prospect of ordering 60 yards took it well and truly out of my price range.

[creagdhubh]

I'm delighted to hear that you can get Dalgleish to weave this.

I've been speaking to my own kilt maker about this recently. After he organized Jock's kilt he spoke with Dalgleish about a heavier weight cloth and was told that they can't remember the last time they did 18oz and that they would only be willing to do it if a whole bolt of cloth was ordered - I am afraid that the prospect of ordering 60 yards took it well and truly out of my price range.

After thinking about it further, I would be just fine with their 15 ounce, heavyweight cloth - the same used for my Macpherson kilt in the Reproduction colours. I'm quite happy with the weight and "feel" of the cloth.

Yours truly with my back facing the camera.

[IrishSean]

Jock mentioned Dalgliesh's 18oz cloth, it's their F1 range. Warning, technical speak coming up - it's produced by double slaying their K7 yarn to make a denser cloth.

To paraphrase my kids, I literally LOL'd.
Even after several months of reading XMarks, I was lost in the tech speak of the orginal post. Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing the results of Kyle's efforts.

[creagdhubh]

Peter,

Upon further investigation, and from my own prior knowledge, there are several similar, yet different Chattan setts. Some are called by different names such as the Macpherson Crubin Plaid, Chattan Clan, and Chattan Chief. Whereas I can quite easily see subtle differences between each tartan, can you tell me what the major differences are (colour of yarn used, sett size, etc)? I have referred to the Tartans Authority website, as well as D.C. Dalgliesh's website for further research, yet I would also like to hear from you, if at all possible. Thank you.

Chattan Chief (Modern colours)


Macpherson Crubin Plaid (Modern colours)


Chattan Clan (Modern colours)

[Kilted Cole]

Kyle, I believe that I am number 10 in Matt's que for my kilt in Clan Chattan in the WoB colors. Once I get the fabric, I'll shoot you a picture of how it turned out. Also, I'm assuming, (knowing you) that you'd be going with the Clan Chattan variation, if so, do let me know, I forgot to have extra woven for a day plaid and would like to jump in on that order if at all possible.

[creagdhubh]

Kyle, I believe that I am number 10 in Matt's que for my kilt in Clan Chattan in the WoB colors. Once I get the fabric, I'll shoot you a picture of how it turned out. Also, I'm assuming, (knowing you) that you'd be going with the Clan Chattan variation, if so, do let me know, I forgot to have extra woven for a day plaid and would like to jump in on that order if at all possible.

Sounds good, Cole!

[OC Richard]

Knowing next to nothing about pleating, and simply talking aesthetics of the kilt front panels when being worn, I'll say that most tartans nowadays feel too small to me. I love the big 'manly' setts seen on Army kilts. However for my eye Duncan MacPherson's sett is too big.

There's a thing in design where it behooves you to 'respect the format' in other words have things at an appropriate scale for the given format. For a kilt's tartan the format is the size of the upper front panel. There's a certain sett size that fits the format best, to my eye.

What's interesting about The Highlanders of Scotland is that you can see sett sizes all over the map, from enormous to tiny. It evidently isn't as settled as it is now, amongst weavers.

I've never seen heavyweight kilting cloth in that MacDonald on the left with a sett that small, and it looks far too small to me; I don't think I've ever seen that MacDonald on the right with a sett quite that big, but it looks 'just right' to me




Here's the sett on the left, as woven for kilts nowadays

[Calgacus]

*snip*
I've never seen heavyweight kilting cloth in that MacDonald on the left with a sett that small, and it looks far too small to me; I don't think I've ever seen that MacDonald on the right with a sett quite that big, but it looks 'just right' to me




*snip*

Good point, Richard.

Scaling that image gives sett sizes of only ~3.5" for the 'too small', and ~9.5" for the 'just right'.

So... a question for the kilt makers reading this- Is a sett size of 9" to 10" workable for (a) pleating to the stripe, and (b) pleating to the sett?

Using Barb's calculations above, a 9" sett should give 22 pleats (198/9=22) if 5.5 yards are used in the pleats.
My 16oz Macpherson kilt has 25 pleats, so if I was looking to create a kilt in my own design of tartan with a 9" sett, I could either settle for 22 pleats, or have the kilt made with a bit of extra fabric to give 25 slightly deeper pleats. I'd need 6.25 yards instead of 5.5 (25*9=225")

A 10" sett gives me only 20 pleats, or I can use ~6.95 yards of cloth (250") to get my 25 pleats.

Given that Dalgleish's cloth is 15oz, not 16oz, this might be a reasonable way of gaining a little extra swish, no?