Pressing and/or basting pleats before stitching

**Mainelydad** · 29th December 16, 06:32 PM

Thank you so much for these suggestions. I have never made a kilt before but I do have some tailoring experience. I'm used to "basting the hell" out the garments I've made, and it's always proven to be well worth the small amount of effort. I'm not making this kilt to win a prize or start a new career. I just want to look presentable at my son's wedding. To that end I'll just use whatever techniques give me the best results I'm capable of.

**Barb T** · 29th December 16, 07:14 PM

I'm going to offer the opposite perspective. As Steve says, I do not press or baste pleats ahead of time. There are two reasons for this, and they really don't have anything to do with how many kilts I've made or how fast I stitch. The first reason is precision - once you have folded and pressed tartan, it's almost impossible to press out a crease and fold it in a different place, especially if you want to fold it in a new place only a small distance from the bad crease. So, if you're off by, say 1/16" when you press where you think the pleat will have to be, it's awfully difficult to reposition the fold where it should be. That means the pleat won't be precise in size or positioning of elements or maybe both. And if you have 27 pleats in your kilt, and you're off by 1/16" in pleat size in each, the pleats would be off by over an inch and a half when you get done. I think it's much easier to achieve precise pleat size and element placing by carefully measuring and pinning each pleat as you stitch it. I wrote a post awhile back about pinning to achieve better pleats: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...not-pin-72250/

The other reason is actually time. If you pin a pleat well before you stitch it, I don't think you don't save any time at all by taking the time to baste the pleat ahead of time or press everything ahead of time. And if you press and baste everything ahead of time you have a giant pile of fabric that is a lot harder to sew than stitching one pleat at a time and keeping all of the rest of the fabric out of the way.

**Adrian** · 30th December 16, 01:51 AM

Just had a look at Barbs other post... a good method...always has good reasons for doing something a certain way...

I haven't made it clear in my post of the method being taught to me in Scotland...which is another...I don't even think there is any agreement in Scotland on a method for kiltmaking....with any craft tend to adapt a bit to what suits how you work

What I've not made clear
I've usually marked out the whole kilt with tailor's chalk first and the positions of the pleats
my tacking stitches only hold the folded piece together to form the fold line...they don't hold that to the piece underneath to which you are stitching... stitch each pleat as we go and measure at least every 5 pleats to check on track...use a width guage to help alignment...
I prefer to work flat and actually pin at waist and the seat in the right position before stitching...
I'll have to keep a photo record of the next one I do....

**Barb T** · 30th December 16, 06:44 AM

Main thing to learn from this post is that there is no one right way to make a kilt. What matters is making a kilt that is beautifully and accurately pleated, fits well, hangs right, and lasts a lifetime. Occasionally we have a bout of chest-pounding on this Forum where people claim they have the one true way. Hogwash!

**Stoff** · 30th December 16, 08:07 AM

I have a question for Steve. Where did you get your fine line chalk and mechanical pencil setup? I have never seen this and as a tailor I am very interested in finding chalk that dose not need to be sharpened every time I go to use it.

Thanks,
Christoph

**Adrian** · 30th December 16, 10:43 AM

Had to laugh at Barb's comment on chest pounding and hogwash.......probably goes way beyond this forum when it comes to kilt making methods....several places now offering courses in Scotland...a SVQ kiltmaking qualification has emerged again...

There is/was Kilt Makers association of Scotland and the standards .....
Most larger kilt making firms followed there own method and training notes...so how did they fit with this, not everyone would meet the criteria...Certainly not one right/true way in Scotland, a few... variants....

Like a lot of crafts, the next kilt is better than the last ... learn what you can from whoever is willing to share there knowledge and experience and help get the newbies through the sticky bits...