Kingussie Pleating: Anyone have one?

[TheOfficialBren]

A Kingussie pleating style has piqued my interest. I have a question for Matt about these:
Matt, why are the Kingussies from New House Highland not offered in 6-yards on your website and would it be possible to order one from you?

Thank you for the information.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

A Kingussie pleating style has piqued my interest. I have a question for Matt about these:
Matt, why are the Kingussies from New House Highland not offered in 6-yards on your website and would it be possible to order one from you?

Thank you for the information.

It really has to do with the geometry of the pleats. With the central box pleat, you have two pleats meeting each other in the middle of the kilt. If you think about how the pleats look from the inside of the kilt, they point towards each other like this >><<.

It is a rule that the more fabric goes into the the kilt, the more pleats you will have, and the deeper those pleats will be. This means there will be lots of additional overlap on the inside of the pleats. If all the pleats were running in the same direction, that would be no problem. But with the Kingussie style, the flow of the pleats meet in the middle, and if the pleats run too deep you run into a problem. There is nowhere for the overlapping fabric to go.

My experience has shown that this style of kilt works out best when you use less than six yards of cloth. The historic Kingussie style kilts (both of them that we know of so far!) were made with closer to four yards of cloth. So using lower yardage is more in keeping with the traditional style, anyway.

[Liam]

It really has to do with the geometry of the pleats. With the central box pleat, you have two pleats meeting each other in the middle of the kilt. If you think about how the pleats look from the inside of the kilt, they point towards each other like this >><<.

It is a rule that the more fabric goes into the the kilt, the more pleats you will have, and the deeper those pleats will be. This means there will be lots of additional overlap on the inside of the pleats. If all the pleats were running in the same direction, that would be no problem. But with the Kingussie style, the flow of the pleats meet in the middle, and if the pleats run too deep you run into a problem. There is nowhere for the overlapping fabric to go.

My experience has shown that this style of kilt works out best when you use less than six yards of cloth. The historic Kingussie style kilts (both of them that we know of so far!) were made with closer to four yards of cloth. So using lower yardage is more in keeping with the traditional style, anyway.

I'm curious... would this be the same for a "reverse" Kingussie?

[TheOfficialBren]

Ah! Thank you very much, Matt. That explains that.

Liam, I'm also curious about Rev-K's. Don't the pleats look like this? <<<<=>>>>

[sydnie7]

I'm curious... would this be the same for a "reverse" Kingussie?

No, with the reverse structure you have two knife pleats facing each other at center rear. Within reason any yardage is possible.

[Liam]

No, with the reverse structure you have two knife pleats facing each other at center rear. Within reason any yardage is possible.

Thanks, that was what I thought....

[gwynng]

Interesting...I just obtained 2 yards of double wide tartan at a bargain price on eBay. (can't beat 13.00 and still has the tag from the UK sale) i think it is saxony rather than worsted but has the same hand weight as my 13 oz kilts. Not a great selvage so will need to hem it. The original intention was to use it for my first attempt at a box pleat kilt.

Here's my question for the experienced kit makers. Is 4 yards (2 yards double wide) enough to make a Kingussie or should I stick to a box pleat? My waist is 35" and seat is 41.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

You can make a Kingussie style kilt from that amount, as well.