Question on Knife Pleats

[BozemanboB]

This thread, I think, will go a long ways towards straightening me out - and my kilt, too!

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=25996

[Pleater]

Gosh (blush) I just read a message from yesterday I somehow missed

I supose I am a bit of a perfectionist when making garments. However, after 50 years I should be good at it.

I am just starting to accumulate a set of photos in order to have them to handy for reference, rather than trying to make some rather used kilts look good enough to photograph.

I do need to practise with the digital camera - so as to get things in focus, and also remember to take photos during construction, to show the methods, and also to be able to do them again.

The official kilt under construction at the moment has 50 pleats (could be more, eventually) 2/5ths of an inch reveal and a varying depth, so as to create identical reveals of black edged grey but alternate black/red and black/white inside the pleats. The fabric is a crazy striped pattern before pleating, so it is interesting to see how orderly it is when folded.

Having pulled out some material and kilts to take photos, now I have heaps of cloth everywhere that needs to be tidied away or finished and hung up - but of course things have got lost - I have a grey white printed stripe kilt almost done that has lost its waistband, and several separated from the thread I was using to sew them. What is worse, I can't find the micrometer. Yes - sad isn't it - I use a micrometer to measure the pleat reveals.

So - hopefully I will soon be filling up my Photobucket album with in focus shots of nicely pressed pleats and finished kilts, but the normal situation prevails just at the moment.

[Pleater]

Did all the advice, resewing, pressing, pulling, hammering(!!!) etc work, did the fabric eventually give in and become a kilt?

[BozemanboB]

Oh, that one. It IS a kilt, technically speaking, but an ill-fitting one.

I discovered the problem with the increasingly sideways-hanging pleats: sloppiness. I thought I could be slick and time-saving, so didn't pin the pleats before sewing them. As I was sewing the pleats from fell-to-waist the top of the pleats wandered "outward" in a curve.

Lesson learned: pin the pleats as they are marked. Better than that, I'm basting them down before I sew them. Much more secure than pinning, and helps ensure better accuracy.

My newest creation is a kinguisse (sp?) corduroy kilt. I like corduroy for it's built-in alignment guides! I like the symmetry of the kinguisse style. I'm basting then sewing two pleats at a time, and it's going much better. (Still not perfect; that just takes more practice.) I'll post pictures of this one when it's done.

Here's another question: do you sew down the pleats on the inside of the kilt? (Sewing only to the next pleat, not through to the outside, I realize.) I have on this one, but now I think that wasn't the best thing to do. There are so many layers of thick fabric that the inside of the kilt is quite a bit shorter than the outside, and now that the length of the inside of the kilt is fixed there's some odd bunching when I wrap it.

I may rip all those seams because the top of the pleats will be held by the waist band, but I wonder about the massive flaps of pleats and how they'll lay at the fell. How does one control all that fabric? (Lining?)

Soon - I'll post pics of my creations. I've got one denim kilt done, the corduroy almost done, and I modified a thrift store jacket last week. It came out a little short, but otherwise it's VERY cool. And I learned so much on that one that the next (in the closet now) will go much better.

boB

[Pleater]

I have to confess that my kilts have become more and more minimalist - (is that actually possible on a philosophical level?)

As I have had to remake them smaller several times due to reducing waist size I have altered the design to the reverse or ghillie Kinguisse, and now only sew the pleats along the top, and down the outer edges of the pleats if necessary. The edge sewing can stay in and I just remake them with a smaller reveal.

I am careful to sew the top edges of the pleats exactly level, except for the small ones at the edge of the apron, which angle down very slightly to allow for the flare of the apron.

If the kilt is inclined to fly I now sew a tape along the lower edge. In the past I have sewn through the pleat, just the two layers, for about half the width of the pleat, allowing for the increase in the reveal of the pleat at that level - the reverse of suppression. That worked, but I like the idea of being able to return the kilt to a piece of straight material very quickly. The tape also adds to the swing of a light kilt, so it is a double benefit.

If you have sewn down the edge of the pleat you do not have to undo it to put tape on, but do not sew over the edge with the sewing machine, stop, lift the foot, move the fold behind the needle, lower the foot and continue sewing. You don't have to cut the thread so it is quite neat.

[BozemanboB]

I'm not sure I quite follow your instructions on taping; I'll have to re-read several times more, I think.

News on the corduroy: I destitched the insides of the pleats. I just wasn't happy with the way the thing fit once I sewed the insides of the pleats to the next pleat from fell-to-waist. The tops are now held fast by the waistband (broke two needles - corduroy is HEAVY) and I may hand-sew the pleats just at the fell.

Tonight - I hope - I'll add the strap and belt loops, trim the hundreds of little thready bits hanging off everywhere, and then it'll be done! This is the most difficult kilt I've done yet because of the thickness of the fabric. But it was also greatly simplified by having the guide lines built-in. I'm still not satisified with my accuracy and precision, but I think that will come with practice.

The next kilt will be a camo kinguissie in cotton-poly twill. But before then I have to build a sewing table. Presently my machine sits atop a game table, and I only have the portable platform that attaches to the machine. Much too small a working surface when I'm trying to sew in the tapers and most of the kilt hangs in free space. The new table will use a countertop and the machine will be recessed so I have a much larger working surface.

Hopefully I'll post pics this weekend. Stay tuned!

boB

[Pleater]

I think you will see what I mean when the already sewn pleats are there in front of you and you want to add a weighting tape.
You will probably not need it with corduroy as it tends to resist folding upwards.

To get the pleat edges sewn down by machine on a Kinguisse style you would start with the center back box pleat edges, then fold the next pleat under it and sew that down, so you are just sewing through the minimum number of layers. Proceed towards the apron that way.

For a reverse pleating you would need to start at the apron edges and work towards the center back inverted box pleat.

Of course, once the waist is sewn it is a hand stitching job.

You do need space for kilt making. I bought a large glass topped corner computer unit which is a great help, even though it takes up a large amount of space. It is two fair sized tables connected by a quarter circle, and one side has a fixed shelf at the back and the other a pull out keyboard shelf. all those things which tend to get whisked onto the floor, like pots of pins, rulers and scissors can be put out of the way.

[BozemanboB]

Go here...

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...052#post427052


boB