Lardbelly, or "the tale of the tail" and Barb's fine book

[The Wizard of BC]

Well, remember, the width of the pleat reveal you are talking about is a fairly recent development.

In the early days of kilt design pleats were any old width that the kiltmaker wished. They were also not always pleated as we do today. Pleating to either the stripe or to the Sett was not adhered to until the military standardized the look of kilts.

Box Pleats need to be in the 2" to 3" range to give good swish, On the original Kingussie kilt the pleats are wide, but those are the exception today. Most traditional Kilts today have pleats between 3/4" and 1 1/8".

Knife pleats with a 2" or 3" reveal only came back to common use with Utilikilts. They take less fabric, are easier and faster to manufacture, and give the "In your face" masculine look that UK tries to put forward.

I use a 1 1/2" pleat reveal on my Cargo Model to do the same thing. It produces a kilt with a rugged look.

If you're not using Tartan fabric or have lots of fabric to work with there is no reason you can't have a pleat reveal of whatever size looks good to you.

Within reason of course. Pleat reveals of less than 3/4" look busy. and are prone to a jumbled, or pick-up sticks look. Pleats over about 2 or 2 1/2" have the opposite problem. They move like cardboard and are prone to curling.

[Barb T]

Sorry to weigh in so late on this. I've had a couple of nutty days here.

I have a couple of suggestions:

1) Regardless of what you do with the measurements, be sure that you put only one buckle on the apron edge. For someone with a bit of a bulge in the front, a second buckle typically pulls the apron tight under the belly, which doesn't look good.

2) Consider wearing your sporran with hangers from the belt, rather than with a traditional sporran strap (which tends to emphasize the contour of the belly and doesn't allow the apron to hand smoothly down from the top band).

3) Wear your kilt high enough - don't succumb to the temptation of letting it ride below your belly, which will give you the "pouchy" look.

4) If you're doing a test-run kilt, try adding 1" to the hips measurement. Make the waist and hips measurement in the apron identical (23 and 23), and make the pleats 23 at the waist and 24 at the hips. That will snug the kilt into the small of your back a little and give you a little extra room across the front below your belly. Should work fine.

5) Don't put lots of itty bitty pleats into your kilt. Particularly for a big guy, it starts to look like something other than a kilt. For someone your size, I wouldn't make the pleats any less than about 7/8" at the hips.

Barb

[The Wizard of BC]

Oh, thanks for weighing in here Barb. I knew, because of your schedule, that could take a while.
I hope I didn't step on your toes.

Creative Accents, are you going to be able to make it up to Kilt Kamp? Having a chance to speak to Barb in person is well worth the trip. Bring your project and show it to her. I'm sure she can answer all your questions.

Heck, I'll bet she will even measure you in person.

But then you will have to stick yourself with a needle and take the secret blood oath.

[way2fractious]

...stick yourself with a needle and take the secret blood oath.

C'mon, Steve! Sticking oneself with a needle - repeatedly - during traditional kilt handstitching gives innumerable opportunities to utter those not-so-secret oaths.

w2f

[The Wizard of BC]

Ah yes, but this is why there is a rather thick door between my sewing room and the one where the ladies are. Their poor ears would shrivel up and fall off if they were subjected to my oaths on a regular basis.

[creativeaccents]

SO much valuable information here! Thanks to you all for the sharing of your time and thoughts. I have read and re-read each post and made careful notes on the suggestions.

Still a bit confused re the waist.
Previously, I had assumed that the natural waist should be at the level of the belly button. Trying the exercise in the book would work for most, but when I seek the level between the bottom of the ribs and the hips where things are supposed to taper when bending sideways, it just doesn't work like that; a dunlop only tends to kind of sqoosh outwards. So, is it then best to assume where that magical point used to be when there actually was a more "natural waist", OR is it better to mark an X at the level of the navel or a similar point. Fortunately, the navel line is still below the ribs and above the hips!
I have read and re-read, used highlighter on the points to be read yet again and am TRULY ever more respectful of everyone's talents and the myriad considerations that would go into a properly tailored kilt.
Too, I have been reviewing the genealogy on my 'Legacy Family Tree Deluxe" and come up with ayers, Cameron, Day, Fairbanks, Goodenow, Green, Howe, Huggins, Kennedy, McGregor, McCullough, McCutcheon, Montgomery, Moulton, Murrel, Stanhope, Walker, and many others, but now need to begin looking at them all to determine what does have a tartan, what I like, and what, if any look too complex for my second kilt. For myself, I tend not to wear much bright red...not a judgement, but just not me. I also prefer the more muted, natural colors, as opposed to those that are too complex or screamingly bold.
Now to move on to step two, the fabric.

[Barb T]

Judging from the pic in your avatar, you already have a kilt? The easiest thing to do is put that kilt on at the right height. Look straight ahead and have someone check the bottom of the kilt to determine if it's the right length. If it's too long or too short, have the person measure by how much. Be sure that you are looking straight ahead, though, not down.

Then, measure from the center of the top buckle at the apron edge to the bottom of the kilt (_not_ from the the top edge of the kilt!). Add or subtract how much the kilt was too short or too long. That's the length measurement you need for working with the instructions in my book. You then add a 2" rise to that length to get the overall length of the kilt.