badly pressed pleats ruins effect

[Dixiecat]

It looks like a very nice pressing job actually, just that when they went to press they turned the pleats in the other direction. And, I'm thinking that while Seaforth kilts may be box pleated, that this kilt was not, and is pleated to the white stripe instead.

It's easy enough to re-press. Just get it damp, realign the pleats properly and press.

[Paul Henry]

It looks like a very nice pressing job actually, just that when they went to press they turned the pleats in the other direction. And, I'm thinking that while Seaforth kilts may be box pleated, that this kilt was not, and is pleated to the white stripe instead.

It's easy enough to re-press. Just get it damp, realign the pleats properly and press.

If it is military box pleats ( most likely given the history) there is no reason why it couldn't have been pleated to the white stripe and box pleated, they are not mutually exclusive

[M. A. C. Newsome]

This kilt was box pleated, to the white stripe, as all the Seaforth kilts were. You can tell that when they pressed it, they pressed out the box pleats and pressed them as ordinary knife pleats.

Yes, it can be fixed with a little time and effort. Maybe someone will get a good deal out of it.

[xman]

... I wonder if they thought they were "fixing" the pleats?!

The change from the sewn fell to the hang is so stark that I can't imagine the presser was ignorant of it. I'll bet they simply got tired of having to try and maintain them and decided to 'fix' them none-the-less.

[Dixiecat]

This kilt was box pleated, to the white stripe, as all the Seaforth kilts were. You can tell that when they pressed it, they pressed out the box pleats and pressed them as ordinary knife pleats.

Yes, it can be fixed with a little time and effort. Maybe someone will get a good deal out of it.

Gotcha. I forgot that military box pleats aren't actually box pleats, but folded over knife pleats. Whoops.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Gotcha. I forgot that military box pleats aren't actually box pleats, but folded over knife pleats. Whoops.

Actually, they are actually box pleats, actually. :-)

They are simply box pleats made with 8 yards of cloth, rather than four.

An historic box pleated kilt, made from 4 yards of cloth, has wide box pleats which have little to no overlap and the pleats are equal depth on either side.

As you increase the yardage, you end up with more pleats, and more narrow pleats. There will be more overlap on the interior. And while side of the pleat will be deeper (due to the increased amount of cloth) the other side of the pleat will actually become more shallow.

So when you do this with a full 8 yards, the box pleats do indeed "look like" what we would expect a normal modern knife pleated kilt to look like, with the pleats twisted around. But it is, in fact, exactly what a box pleated kilt looks like when made from 8 yards of cloth.

[Pleater]

I think that to get it right you would need to dampen it, spraying with a fine mist several times, and then gently iron the inside to remove the folds which are in the wrong place, as high up as possible.

When the folds have been removed, start to reform the pleats, tacking vertically to place the outer fold in the right place relevant to the white stripe, and pressing each pleat separately using a sleeve board.

Only then could you reform the whole line of pleats correctly, baste them in place and press without the folds being distorted.

It would be a labour of love, but that photo shows pressing which is positively cruel!

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Barb T]

Well, as my mother would say, that really takes the cake. It's a stunner! Hard to imagine that someone could think that was what the pleats were supposed to look like!!

[Michael Flemming]

Like "what did you sit in, mate?"

[azwildcat96]

Maybe my ebay skills aren't so good, but I couldn't find this item. Or maybe it has expired?