Opinions please

[beerbecue]

Hi All,

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!

I am about to begin construction on my first homemade kilt, and would like your opinion on pleating...

I have Hunting Stewart tartan, and am currently leaning toward pleating to the stripe, but my wife and I differ on which stripe to use. She really likes the red, but my original plan was yellow.

Here is a link to the fabric I bought:

http://www.wooltartan.com/tartans5.htm

I am about finished with altering my Stillwater kilt, so I will post pictures on various steps of the process soon.

-Troy

[bubba]

I suppose it depends on how bright you want it. Personally I'd favor the red, but then, I prefer the somewhat darker colors.

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Since I (personally) can't stand the look of pleating to the stripe, I'll just go by what I "would" do.

The darker color will hide any imperfections that might be present in the tapering. Also, it will camoflauge the sway with darker shadowing. IF you are able to bend and sew the taper to where it fits perfectly, you can try the lighter stripe.

I realize that sewing to the stripe is infinitely easier. From vast experience, that's why I love the field so much more. You'll notice that cheaper kilts sew to the stripe. It's fast, easy and cost-effective.

I sure wish that I could talk you into taking the extra time to maintain the beauty of the that tartan!

~Just my two cents worth~

[beerbecue]

I have been thinking of pleating to the sett, and I still might do it, especially after seeing the tartan in full light (the blues are spectacular).

I really wish I would have purchased 8 yards, that way I could have one of each (and kept the selvedge). The tartan is asymmetric, so no usable selvedge and will have to hem.

I saw remnant for Hunting McInnes as well, it is quite striking too.

I did search for the paraffin you described previously (thinking I could use it to control fraying), but nothing comes up that seems to match.

[Gary]

I've got a kilt that alternates between the two stripes, red then white then red etc. Just thought I'd give you another option to consider.

[Blu (Ontario)]

Is this what you had in mind?



It is the Stewart hunting kilt pleated to stripe I had made for me last year by Chris at Cheapkilts. (Chris did very nice work by the way but, sadly, seems to have disapeared from the board.) I quite like pleating to stripe but it seems not all tartans suited for it.

[Jimmy Carbomb]

I'm sitting here with a Traditional Scottish hand-sewn kilt in the Stewart Hunting tartan. It's sewn to the sett, and is one of the nicest kilts I've ever seen. Unfortunately, it's not mine, but is here for another one of my alterations.

SOMETHING ELSE TO CONSIDER:

If you're using the tartan material that Chris at CheapKilts used, then you're going to be able to do whatever you like. IF you're using a nice wool material with the proper larger tartan, then you're options are VERY limited. The thin/smaller tartans do allow for some leaway in pleating, whereas the larger ones are so much nicer in appearance and authenticity!

[Blu (Ontario)]

.... IF you're using a nice wool material with the proper larger tartan, then you're options are VERY limited. The thin/smaller tartans do allow for some leaway in pleating, whereas the larger ones are so much nicer in appearance and authenticity!

Absolutely! But, as is typical of such things, it comes with a cost. A novice kiltmaker, however, might choose to defer the investment in such premium materials to a later project.

[Barb T]

Hi guys

Unlike Jimmy, I really like kilts pleated to the stripe! To me, it's a matter of taste and a matter of the tartan. I think that some tartans look awful pleated to the stripe, and some very bland tartans look blah pleated to the sett and can benefit from being pleated to the stripe.

The hardest pleats to stitch perfectly are ones with a stripe or color boundary down the center. Unless you are very careful, the stripe tends to wander. I find that, while it _is_ easier to lay out a kilt pleated to the stripe, stitching the pleats themselves is more exacting, because each pleat has a stripe down the center. If you pleat to the sett, on the other hand, chances are good that only some of the pleats will have centered elements. Some will probably be solid color and some will probably have edge stripes, both of which stitch faster and are less trouble to make perfect. So, frankly, I think there's a tradeoff. And it _is_ more boring to stitch pleats where every one is the same!!

For the Hunting Stewart, I'm partial to how the red-in-green pleating looks. I'm less fond of the overall yellowish cast of the yellow-in-green pleating.

Cheers!

Barb

[beerbecue]

The material I have is a poly/wool blend. The sett is 5 7/8 inches (pretty close to 15cm).

I originally wanted to pleat to the stripe because it is different. And I do think that the red on green would give the kilt a very unique look.

I know that doing the pleating properly will be difficult, and I need to get the stitches closer together, but I did get some practice. Unfortunately, the pleats on the Stillwater were already set, and I didn't want to redo the entire kilt.

At the price I paid for the material, perhaps I will order up some more yardage and make one to the sett as well.

My wife is happy I have a hobby, and I think she is happy that I am actually doing something to have a kilt instead of just talking about them all the time!

Barb - the ripping went swimmingly! I had enough for 28" for both halves (24L + 2" rise + 2" hem), and two 1 1/2 inch pieces for the top band, etc. I guess I was lucky the fabric was 59"....

BTW, anyone know of sources for tartan remnants?