Uneven pleats

[Mark Keeney]

I finally gathered the tartan together and took them to the local kilt maker and had them made up into 3 new kilts (took about 2 weeks). On one of the kilts I noticed the pleats were uneven in size. Some are as deep as 4" and some only as deep as 2 1/2". The other kilts are evenly pleated.

The kilt in question is a MacPhearson (large sett) kilt and I am assuming they did it this way so there would be more pleats and less yardage. Is this a normal way to make kilts of large sets?

BTW the set is about 13 1/2". It is interesting to only have the set once on the front apron.

I will include pictures when I can figure out how to include them.

[Barb T]

A 13 1/2" sett is a huge sett and generally requires "cheating the pleats" in order to get a reasonable number of pleats into the kilt. If you looked carefully, you'll probably find that the shallower pleats are less than a full sett apart, and the occasional big one is a full sett. It's generally unavoidable to have a few really deep ones. As long as the reveal is even, you shouldn't worry about it. It will never show from the outside of the kilt, even when you're walking.

Having said all this, it does seem a bit odd to me that this is true for only one of the kilts. But, it can happen, depending upon how the pleats are chosen!

Barb

[Mark Keeney]

Having said all this, it does seem a bit odd to me that this is true for only one of the kilts. But, it can happen, depending upon how the pleats are chosen!

Barb

Thanks for clearing that up.

The other 2 kilts are of different tartans.