Right vs Wrong pleating?

[Akeach]

After doing some research I bought some lovely Black Watch tartan. As most people know this has a huge huge sett of 9 inches. I had already decided that I am going to do a half sett of 4.5 inches but is there a right vs wrong pleat? I have a small scrap piece I have been playing with and have come up with a couple different patterns with my pleating. Is one more proper than the other?

Here are all the different patterns I came up with
http://imgur.com/a/X0aRy

[The Wizard of BC]

If I may offer some help.

When folding Tartan fabric for pleats we usually do so one of two ways. Now please understand that this is not a right or wrong situation here. There really is no right or wrong, only conventions.

The two ways of pleating are called "To the Sett" and "To the Stripe".

To the Sett means that we attempt to recreate the look of the full Tartan in the pleats. This would mean that the front of the kilt where you have a flat section of fabric would look like the back where that same look is created in the pleats.

To the Stripe means that we find any vertical element of the Tartan pattern and put the same element down each pleat. With this type of pleating the front and back of the kilt look very different.

Here are two kilts made from the same Black Watch fabric. The one on the left is pleated to the Black Stripe within the green and the one on the right is pleated to the Sett.



I hope this helps you to visualize the usual way that Tartan is normally pleated.

The current Royal Regt. of Scotland kilts are pleated to the Stripe very similar to the kilt here on the left.

[Barb T]

...this has a huge huge sett of 9 inches.

To be honest, 9" is not a huge sett. It is on the large end of average, but it's still perfectly possible to pleat this without cheating the pleats. I don't see any particular reason to go to every half sett unless you are a big guy and have only 8 yards of tartan.

But, more importantly, what kind of a kilt are you making? The pics you link to look like you're planning a box-pleated kilt. If you were making a trad knife-pleated kilt, the pleats would typically be only 3/4"-7/8" across at the hips, and the ones you show look like they are much bigger than that. So, before we can give you any more advice, can you tell us how much tartan you have and what kind of a kilt you are planning to make?

[Akeach]

... can you tell us how much tartan you have and what kind of a kilt you are planning to make?

Actually those are all pictures of knife pleats. I have 8 yards of tartan and I am planning on making a standard kilt.

I guess I should also mention that the waist size is 43 inches, it is not for me, and because this is my first attempt at a kilt (and I did not want to butcher wool) I am using a poly viscose blend. I know it is not going to be a sturdy as a wool kilt but I wanted practice first.

[The Wizard of BC]

Um, can you tell us how you define a 'standard' kilt?

Regardless of what type of pleats you do, how you lay out the Tartan pattern will be much the same. To the Sett or to the Stripe.

[unixken]

I guess I should also mention that the waist size is 43 inches, it is not for me, and because this is my first attempt at a kilt (and I did not want to butcher wool) I am using a poly viscose blend. I know it is not going to be a sturdy as a wool kilt but I wanted practice first.

As a first attempt to make a kilt, I STRONGLY suggest you get a copy of Barb's book, "The Art of Kiltmaking." Co-written with Elsie Stuehmeyer, and available from this link, this book is all but The Bible of traditional kilt construction. Even to those like myself who have never sewn a kilt, it makes for fascinating study into what goes into making a quality kilt.