Quote Originally Posted by awoodfellow
hmmm ... as i wait for the Kilt Bible .....

ok. what do you mean, 'a pleat bigger at the hip'? shouldn't the pleat be uniform the entire length of the drop? just wondering, as it sounds as if the pleat is going to be a different width elsewhere.

please clarify . thanks

'brose
Well yes. from the hip down the pleat is the same. But since your waist is narrower than your hip(idealy) you have to compensate. So you take a fraction of the top of the pleat(the waist) or in some cases every second or third pleat in. You hardly notice it, because you have 26-34 or something pleats to take in 2-5 inches, all in the math. In fact at the edge of each apron you put in darts so there is even less tapering.
i.e. my waist is 39" my hip 46" We shall take half of each, because the front half of our kilt is apron. Half waist 19.5" half hip is 23". the difference between hip and waist is 3.5". I'm pleating the back of the kilt. so I have to taper 3.5" over 33 pleats. it's a fraction of an inch on each pleat. The apron also has to narrow by 3.5", but I do that at two places, one on each side, so I put a dart in that takes up 1.75" in the under apron and 1.75" on the outer apron. On the aprons you flare the bottom out so the apron doesn't curl. (The outer apron is also a bit bigger than half your hip and waist but that's explained in books) You can do that because you put in a double deep pleat on one side and a box pleat on the other. You have to hem up the bottom of each of those pleats so that the kilt will hang even all around in the front.
OK when you lay the finished kilt on the floor open apron to apron it curves. That once rectangle of material you started out with is a form fitting garment. beauty in motion of swishing pleats.
Read the kilt bible, dream about it and at three in the morning, you will wake up and say UREKA I figured it out. (this will happen....)
You're gonna love this! It is fun, just find a comfortable chair with plenty of light and start sewing down those pleats one at a time a few per session and it will all fall into place.
Cheers
Robert