Box pleats

[Riverkilt]

Scratching my head, wondering if I could "disassemble" my two gathered SportKilts and make something more kilty out of them...seems like there'd be no way to add fabric neccessary to make such pleats though...pondering though...

Ron

[Pleater]

Scratching my head, wondering if I could "disassemble" my two gathered SportKilts and make something more kilty out of them...seems like there'd be no way to add fabric neccessary to make such pleats though...pondering though...

Ron

I have been considering a patchwork kilt where the outer part of the kilt is a thick fabric such as some old jeans cut into suitable strips, with perhaps a black or deep purple to form the back of the pleat.

It might require the use of an overlocker to shape and join the pieces.

Overlockers are more fun than ordinary sewing machines they have multiple threads and usually two needles plus a thing called a knife but it is more like a tiny chopper slicing off the excess fabric. You can cut and then sew with an ordinary sewing machine, - oh - an overlocker is called a serger in foreign parts.

If there is enough fabric to make the visible panel and the first fold of the box pleat - that is two layers out of the three then the second fabric could join the centre of one panel to the centre of the next so forming the third layer of the pleat.

If your set or panel was 6 inches wide you would require 12 inches with the edged folded to the centre back for each one, and then 6 inches plus two seam allowances of another fabric. I would use a thinner fabric for the second colour, use the overlocker to make a flat seam, then fold it and sew it down to form the underneath pleat. Or if using a sewing machine use a zig zag to join the edges then sew down to form a pleat.

Overlocking makes quite a rough edge, particularly if the thread is a polyester one, so you want to keep it off the skin.

Maybe use two layers of the contrast fabric to make the under apron, so gaining more of the original fabric to make the pleats.