Pressing the pleats

[xman]

This sounds about right. A few thoughts;
1.Make sure the pleats are perfectly even from top to bottom.
2. You could probably stand to add a couple of rows of basting. One between the ones you have and another again half way up to the fell from the top row unless you feel very confident in your ability to keep the pleats straight.
3. For extra crispness in the pleats, steam with the iron for a few seconds then press them with a block letting them cool as they set.

[triumph]

thank you for the reply xman What do you mean by pressing with a block?

[xman]

A block of wood. You could use a heavy book (with no spine crease!) like the telephone book. The point is to press it while the steam cools.

[img]

After you have basted, you can take your kilt to a professional cleaners and they will press it for you.

Ina

[triumph]

I just finished pressing the pleats on my kilts, it work out great. I was afraid that being a newbie I would screw up some very nice old kilts, but the pleats are nice and sharp. Thanks for all the help from members and I also did a search on the forum which helped.

[xman]

Good to hear!

[Droid]

This sounds about right. A few thoughts;
1.Make sure the pleats are perfectly even from top to bottom.
2. You could probably stand to add a couple of rows of basting. One between the ones you have and another again half way up to the fell from the top row unless you feel very confident in your ability to keep the pleats straight.
3. For extra crispness in the pleats, steam with the iron for a few seconds then press them with a block letting them cool as they set.

I have a question about step 1. The kilt I need to press has been worn a handful of times with plenty of sitting and a fair amount of driving on a car, so, needless to say, the pleats need a little love. But, upon further inspection, the pleats are smaller at the top than at the bottom. I never look that closely at the construction, I just put it on and went out. Is this normal?

I just tried laying the kilt out on the floor to see just how bad the pleats are and am having a very hard time getting the darn thing to lay flat. Like I said, the top (waist line) is smaller then the bottom (knee line).

I can try to upload pictures if need be.