MacPherson Kilt

**turpin** · 16th April 07, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by ChattanCat

The Macpherson tartan is much more complex and I am having trouble identifiing the major elements and where to center each plett.

So here is my real question: Does the sett in the back have to be the same width as the sett in the front?

CC, I'm no kiltmaker, but if you are pleating to the sett, you are trying to reproduce the actual sett across the pleats as it appears on the apron. However, it is your creation and if you find a pleating method that works well for you, do it. You might want to pleat and pin several different styles to see which you like best. Some tartans that are asymmetric are hard to pleat to the actual sett, but if yours is symmetric than your only problem has already been stated as above. Barb's book does give advice for pleating complex tartans. Since your first two kilts were relatively straightforward, you may not have focused as heavily on that part of the book. Perhaps a review?

I'll be, however, if you wait a bit someone is out there photoshopping a pleating design for you right now and will post it later. That level of kiltmaking is beyond me.

cheers

**ChattanCat** · 16th April 07, 12:44 PM

Turpin,
Thanks, if I can't figure out how to pleat to the sett and keep the sett the same dimension, I think I will pleat to the stripe. I am an engineer and this is just frustrating me right now.
CC

**ChattanCat** · 16th April 07, 12:54 PM

Here are the major elements. (I think)

**Barb T** · 16th April 07, 02:35 PM

Hi

First, reproducing the sett to the exact dimenstions is rarely possible. Better to have it not quite the same size but still repeating the elements than to try to force the pleats to reproduce the sett at the same size but lose important elements of the tartan in pleat taper. To be honest, I try to get close, but I'm never anal about it. If a color block is a little too big or a little too small, it really doesn't matter. Are you still needing help with the elements of the MacPherson?

In general, what I do is sit down with the tartan and assume that the pleats at the hips will be roughly 3/4-7/8" across. I try to find pleats that are this size that will reproduce the elements, and I try to hide any taper in a wide solid color block. Once I've done that, I do a test layout and see how many pleats I would get with that as a pleating. Then I figure out the pleat size, and, if it's not consistent with 3/4-7/8" per pleat, I check to see if a larger or smaller pleat will cause problems, and I try a new layout. It's kind of an iterative process.

Second, the pic you're thinking of is the one below, and the tartan is Highland Granite. That particular kilt is now proudly worn by Steve Ashton, and Ken (my future son-in-law in the picture) has a new kilt for his wedding, in the USA Bicentennial tartan (which MacWage made possible by swapping some tartan with me). I love this forum!!

Cheers,

Barb

**turpin** · 16th April 07, 02:47 PM

OK, what tartan is Barb's daughter wearing? 1st correct answer is right!

**way2fractious** · 16th April 07, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by turpin

OK, what tartan is Barb's daughter wearing?

Answer is in this post:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...0&postcount=19

**ChattanCat** · 16th April 07, 06:51 PM

I just wanted to thank everyone who participated in this thread. I look forward to having more questions and passing on the knowledge, although limited, to anybody I can help.

Wallace C.

**ChattanCat** · 19th April 07, 09:35 AM

Well, after some pleat practicing, I decided to pleat to the strip. I selected a quintuple stripe - Blue, Black, Blue, Black, Blue. This will be my guide to keep the center 3 stripes straight.

You can see the stripe in the pleated to the sett picture. The pleated to the strip close up was blurry.

What do ya think?

Not sure why the pictures arn't showing but the links work.

**HeathBar** · 19th April 07, 07:07 PM

Wow that is a difficult sett. I have to picture it from the double white lines. I think pleating to the stripe would make it look awsome. I'm not sure which stripe you were using but in the first picture, the pleating to the left looked the best. As the kilt swings, it will flash bits of bright red.

**ChattanCat** · 19th April 07, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by HeathBar

Wow that is a difficult sett. I have to picture it from the double white lines. I think pleating to the stripe would make it look awsome. I'm not sure which stripe you were using but in the first picture, the pleating to the left looked the best. As the kilt swings, it will flash bits of bright red.

I plan to have red with white stripe flashing.