I'm in awe of anyone who can pull the technique off effectively with tartan. I've tried it with several pieces of scraps, and it is a beastly hard thing to get the line up exactly right and then get the stitching in just the right place. Even once I determine I've become good enough at kiltmaking that I'll offer my services out for hire to the general public, I don't know that I'll be using this technique. It's also my feeling that while a machine sewn kilt that doesn't use this technique will never have the look of a hand sewn, the way it (a machine sewn that does not use this technique) looks has a definite appeal to me. The look of the stitching down the pleats on my kilts has kind of a chunky, tough, "we're here to stay, live with it" feel to it for me. That is not to say of course that I'm not dying for one of Rocky's semi-trads. (Ah the perils of being a broke college student with an expensive addiction.)