Do you consider your tartan when pleating?

[Drac]

Hi all,

Getting in some tartan and considering some others. One of them is Gordon Dress. I was thinking that it would look best on a box pleat which seems to show off the for set. I am also wanting a Navy tartan done to the stripe, maybe kingussie.

So do consider the tartan with the type of pleating? If so what do you think looks best?

Jim

[ChattanCat]

To the sett or to the stripe? I have pleated a dress Gordon to the yellow stripe.

[MacMillans son]

Hi all,

Getting in some tartan and considering some others. One of them is Gordon Dress. I was thinking that it would look best on a box pleat which seems to show off the for set. I am also wanting a Navy tartan done to the stripe, maybe kingussie.

So do consider the tartan with the type of pleating? If so what do you think looks best?

Jim

Jim,

I am not a kilt maker, but did consider the tartan of my MacMillan Old Weathered when deciding on pleating options. Lochcarron's version of this tartan has a dominant fuschia block that I wanted to tone down a bit in order to achieve a more weathered look. To achieve that, I had it pleated to the olive/brown block to emphasize the more weathered colors and tone down the brighter fuschia.

So, for me, considering what parts of the tartan I wanted to emphasize, or de-emphasize, certainly entered into my decision of pleating style and point.

I believe Matt Newsome has shown (perhaps on his web page ?) that many different color effects can be achieved with the same tartan just by altering the pleating type and/or color line to pleat to.

Congradulations on the tartan acquisition!

Brooke

[Paul Henry]

I think that everytime we see a tartan we subconcisiously imagine what it would be like in different ways. Some tartans do seem to work better to the line, or to the sett,and some are versatile eitherway.I am working on one tartan which radically differs when pleated to the sett or to the line. I did a quick test pin of some of the different lines for the client, but he went for the Sett in the , but it was a very worthwhile exercise for him... and me
Young tartan colourways

[Farlander]

Absolutely! It sounds like you have not yet decided what kind of kilt you want, so that should probably be your first decision. How much tartan you have may guide this. A traditional knife pleat kilt takes approximately 8 yards of material (4 yards of double wide). A box pleat needs about half that. Being in a warm area like Dallas, fewer yards of warm wool around your bum might make a box pleat seem like a good idea. Other kilt types like the kingussie or reverse kingussie are unusual but could be a fun alternative.

Once you have decided the kilt type, you then get to think about how to pleat things. The Gordan Dress Modern has a few obvious options. With a box pleat, the two most likely options are to either:
- pleat to the two dark blue stripes in the wide white strip area
- pleat to the two dark blue stripes in the wide blue stripe area
The first option would give you a very light colored behind. The second option would darken things up a lot.

For a traditional knife pleat, you could easily do the above two options, or pleat to set, or perhaps even pleat to the yellow strip if the pleats are small enough.

PaulHenery's advice is good. Try pinning up a few different pleating options and see what you like.

Have fun!

[WClarkB]

I think sett size, weight, as well as tartan determines how I have pleated the few kilts I have made. I am currently finishing up a Maple Leaf pleated to the green stripe. This makes a fairly dark back but when you move the yellow, and red show rather dramatically. This effect would be lost with a pleat to sett. I had a very heavy black watch which I box pleated in order to make a lighter weight kilt.