Summer is ending here in the UK and I thought I would make a nice wool blend kilt for the Autumn days, nothing too heavy as the temperatures are still mild.

I have a long length of fabric 60 inches wide, which I decided would be best cut across selvage to selvage, due to the tartan 'squares' being decidedly rectangular - I got it cheap - so I cut 4 strips, 20 ft of fabric and set out my plans on how to pleat it, and then began to consider adding another strip, so that I could have more than 18 pleats.

They are 18 perfectly respectably sized pleats, but the reveals would be just over an inch wide and now I am on a dilemma - make a perfectly good kilt which I might feel is not quite perfect enough - or indulge in the whole 8 yards which would give me enough fabric for over 20 pleats, reveals of less than an inch and enough fabric to trim the selvages to make perfect joins.

It is a medium weight fabric in the Semple tartan - I was told that it was Black Watch by the seller - I intend to dye the pale stripe another colour, blue perhaps, and pleat to the red.

Having been fortunate to have retained a hip measurement closer to that of my younger days whilst my waist, alas, has not - I don't need to be concerned about not being the right shape for a kilt - however - have others faced such a problem when thinking of an addition to an already quite well kilt filled wardrobe, and if so did you succumb to the siren call of 8 yards, or decide on a more frugal length on anything other than purely financial considerations, or youthful slenderness?

Anne the Pleater :ootd: