"Flash of color" in pleating to the stripe

**MT4Runner** · 30th November 11, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by madmacs

Hoping it works well for mine...

Pinning and picture courtesy of Bonnie Heather

It will work very well. The way you've pleated it, you may see just a tiny sliver of red when you're standing and the kilt drapes normally.

If you "roll" the fabric just a bit more into the pleat, you wouldn't see any of the bright red band when the kilt wearer is standing normally. The appearance of the "flash of color" would be more surprising/dramatic when the kilt swishes.

Even 1/4"-1/2" difference in pleat location makes a difference!

If you have a fabric that doesn't take a permanent crease, you can test-pleat a few pleats with an iron to see how it will look.

**Barb T** · 30th November 11, 08:13 PM

WRT the pic in the previous post, I would just say that it wouldn't be my choice to pleat a trad knife pleated kilt to alternating stripes.

**madmacs** · 30th November 11, 08:52 PM

Is it alternating stripes if it's stripe... no stripe?

Was a special request by the purchaser... Hopefully it'll look something like this for me...

**okiescot** · 6th January 12, 09:41 AM

I am not sure if this is the proper thread to post this in, but I have tried elsewhere to get a picture of a kilt made with the MacGregor dress green tartan and was not successful.

My next question is how many variations of pleating to the line or stripe are available with this tartan? Can anyone out there give me an idea of what I can do with this tartan?

If this is an incorrect location for this post would someone please direct me to the proper location.

Thank you.

**Barb T** · 7th January 12, 11:10 AM

Why don't you start a new thread with this question, and people can help you out?

**okiescot** · 7th January 12, 11:43 AM

Thank you. Some forum members frown if you start a new thread and since your thread was on the topic of pleating to the line I thought maybe this would be the proper place to go.

I have met an obstacle in this pursuit because the tartan I like is in fact the dress MacGregor green in dancing colors which only comes in 11 oz. material. I want a minimum of 13 oz. so that rules this tartan out. There is a dress green standard color, that comes in 15 oz., but the green is a bit bright looking, the orange is faded looking and the white has a gray look to it.

At this point it looks like a new thread will not be necessary. Thank you for your advice.

**saxandpipes** · 7th January 12, 12:23 PM

The contrast that is implied by your description suggests that a real "flash" could be achieved. There is a thread in here somewhere which explains how you can test some pleating options using a photo editing programme, a printer and some scissors.

Good luck,

Cheers,

Michael

**Dixiedog** · 7th January 12, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by Barb T.

The back of a kilt pleated to the stripe commonly looks very different from the front of the kilt, because every pleat emphasizes the same color or set of colors, which may be very different from the overall color of a tartan. This also means that the part of the tartan hidden in the pleats will be different from the part of the tartan chosen for the pleat reveal. If the contrast is strong, the pleats can "flash" a dramatically different color when the wearer walks.

I just finished a kilt in Modern Young, and I thought I'd share a couple of pictures to show a spectacular example of this flash of colors.

If you want this to work with a kilt that you're making, you need a big contrast in color between the reveal and the hidden part of the pleat, or else it won't be noticeable. And you need to choose the location of the pleats so that the contrasting color is directly below the pleat reveal, rather than hidden deeper in the fold.

Barb... WOW !!! That is SO Cool !!!

John Rickman here... Like your Kilt Tartan above, the Leatherneck has a very prominate Double Gold Stripe that stands out Greatly from the rest of the Tartan. All the Leatherneck Kilts that I've ever seen, displays this Double Gold Stripe by either pleating to the Sett or to the Stripe. But if you pleat the Leathernect to the Stripe, the Pleated Side of the Kilt appears to turn Solid Gold.

I don't like this STRONG of a color shift from the Apron to the Pleats, so I have just ordered a "Leatherneck" Kilt pleated to the Double Gold Stripe with the Wider Blue / Green Stripe showing next to it before the next pleat starts. I asked for it this way to add some space between the Gold Stripes so that they won't be so close together as to cause the pleated side of the kilt to appear Solid Gold.

But I never thought about completely hiding the Gold Stripe under the reveal to cause it to FLASH when it opens while I walk. That Sounds so Fantastic !!! I wish that you had posted your FLASH Idea here before the New Year. Do you have any pictures that you could show all of us Military types, what the Leatherneck Tartan Kilt would look like when it's pleated with your FLASH Idea to the Double Gold Stripe ??? If it looks half as good as your Kilt above, I'm going to get me another Leatherneck pleated with your Flash Idea.

Thank you for Posting Such a Great Idea...

Most Sincerely Yours...