Robertson Hunting

[Barb T]

Thanks, guys!

B

[Barb T]

Below, you'll find a couple of pics of the Hunting Robertson pleated to two different stripes (not very even, I know, but pinning and scanning doesn't lend itself well to perfection....).

The wrinkle with Hunting Robertson is that it is basically a Black Watch tartan with a red and a white overcheck. That means it's an A-B-A-C type tartan. Because the red stripe is in the "A" block, you get two red stripes for every repeat but only one white stripe for every repeat. The piece of Hunting Robertson that I have has a sett size of over 12.5" (16 oz, Lochcarron). I chose to pleat it to the red stripe so that I could get a reasonable number of pleats into the kilt. If I'd pleated to the white stripe, 8 yards wouldn't have been enough tartan to get a reasonable number of pleats. If I'd pleated to the sett, I would have been able to "cheat the pleats" and have almost every pleat be a half a sett, with one deep a couple times across the back.

Cheers!

Barb

[Prester John]

Barb

Thank you so much, I'm so grateful!

Just out of curiousity...

when pleating something like this to the white stripe, are the pleats then twice as deep? Is that how it works? Is it even possible, let alone desirable?

Sorry for the questions, but you are the queen.

And again, congratulations on grade 4.

[Prester John]

Oh, and my wife loves it! Thanks for taking the time to show what they looked like. It was very kind of you.

They both look great. I agree about the red, though. It does look fabulous.

[Steeplechase]

I like the Red too.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Both look nice, but I think that I would go for the red stripe.

[Barb T]

Just out of curiousity...

when pleating something like this to the white stripe, are the pleats then twice as deep? Is that how it works? Is it even possible, let alone desirable?

You're right - the pleats would be twice as deep pleated to the white stripe. The red stripe repeats every 6.25", giving the pleats a depth of about 3". The white stripe, on the other hand, repeats every 12.5", giving pleats about a 6" depth (that's really deep). The depth is probably less troubling by itself than the fact that each pleat eats up over 1/3 of a yard of cloth. At 3 pleats/yard, you can do the math for how much tartan you'd need across the back to get just 21 pleats (7 yards in the pleats alone!!).

Now, of course, you have to remember that not every piece of Hunting Robertson you come across would have to have a sett as big as this one does. A lighter weight tartan would likely have a smaller sett, and, depending upon how the mill weaves it, even a medium to heavy weight tartan could have a smaller sett. There are limits, though, because the tartan does have some narrow stripes, and the narrowest stripe on the piece I have is only 4 threads. And a stripe has to have an even number of threads, so... Well, you get the picture.

Anyway, glad you like the red! I think it looks really sharp.

Cheers,

Barb