Following Barb T.'s book...

[KMacT]

The big problem with using too little fabric is that you can't do a true pleating either to the sett or to the stripe without having the pleats really big.

Barb,

Here is my question. I've ordered five yards of 16 oz. wool. The tartan has a large sett (7.25 inches), so my calculations (based on your book) are that pleated to the stripe I'll have 15 pleats (on my 35 inch waist). Each pleat will be 1.16 inches wide and 3 inches deep. How will that hold its form and hang, do you think?

And by the way, I'm assuming that if pleated to the sett (rather than the stripe) it will still have the same number of pleats of the same size and depth. Is that right?

Kevin

[Barb T]

Hi Kevin

15 pleats isn't very many for a traditional man's kilt (most of the ones I make have anywhere between 23 and 29), and it won't swing very well with so few pleats. It will look more like a heavy-weight hillwalker kilt than a traditional one. That's not necessarily bad, but you have to be happy with that.

You'll get the most pleats if you pleat to the stripe, because each pleat is folded in exactly the same place (i.e., one repeat apart). If you're pleating to the sett, you'll get fewer pleats, because each pleat is folded one repeat plus enough more to get to the next section of the tartan (which, with pleats as big as you'll have, will be the repeat plus more than an inch). That eats into the # of pleats, and, if you have figured 15 pleats on the basis of the repeat alone, you might find that you can get only 13 or 14 pleats if you pleat to the sett.

Tartan is expensive (which is presumably why you bought only 5 yards to begin with!). On the other hand, you'll put a lot of work into the kilt, and it's not really a "trial balloon" if you've invested in 16 oz kilting tartan. If you're having second thoughts and you already have the tartan, you can order a few more yards and piece the back of the kilt. It's not a big deal, and no one will ever know you've done it, because the joins will be hidden in the pleat folds. It would be no different than doing a join in a kilt made from ripped double-width fabric, which I do all the time (your kilt would just have two seams instead of one).

All in all, it's your choice!

Cheers,

Barb