Deep pleats

**Pleater** · 16th April 19, 07:09 AM

If it bothers you enough, cheat - put in folds to make as close an approximation to the sett as possible, but making more pleats. The inside might reveal the strategy, with the pleats being different sizes - but it is a commonly used strategy when using a large sett, and not at all obvious.

Some tartans, when pleated to stripe, use alternating stripes for the same reason - one is called ketchup and mustard, as the stripes alternate red and yellow.

Anne the Pleater

**jhockin** · 16th April 19, 07:27 AM

I have a kilt, that I made, using 16 oz. “MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, Hunting Modern”, tartan, which I pleaded to the white stripe. It has about 6” deep pleats, and I love it. Great “sway”/ “swish”, of the pleats.
Go for it!

**plaid preacher** · 17th April 19, 10:19 AM

I wear Lamont, which is very similar to McKenzie. What I have done is pleated to the white stripe, and if you use each white stripe (of which there are two in each sett) you cut the depth of your pleats in half...but still have pleats that are as deep as most kilts.

**The Wizard of BC** · 17th April 19, 01:18 PM

From a strictly kiltmaker standpoint -

Many Tartan designs have a Sett size between 6 and 7 inches.

The MacKenzie is similar to Black Watch in that the full repeat of the pattern results in a large Sett size.

With many Tartans like this, the usual way that they are pleated is to display the stripe that occurs twice in each repeat.
This is how the military Black Watch kilts and the Seaforth kilts are pleated.
Black Watch is normally pleated to the black stripe within the green band and the MacKenzie/Seaforth is usually pleated to the white stripe within the green band.

Another option is to pleat to alternating white and red stripes. Much the same as the Canadian Scottish kilts are pleated.

On the inside of an alternate stripe kilt you will see alternating pleats of different depths and there is nothing wrong with this.

Another Tartan that is similar is the one used by the reenacting group, the 78th Fraser Highlanders. Their fabric has a Sett that is even larger than Black Watch.

As they prefer their kilts pleated to Sett we cut away the excess fabric in the massivly deep pleats to keep the total amount of fabric manageable. But this does result in huge amounts of waste.

**BertMcG** · 22nd April 19, 05:42 PM

Thanks for all the advice, looks like pleating to the stripe is the best choice. I’ll post some pics as work progresses

**Bad Monkey** · 22nd April 19, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by The Wizard of BC

...Another Tartan that is similar is the one used by the reenacting group, the 78th Fraser Highlanders. Their fabric has a Sett that is even larger than Black Watch.

As they prefer their kilts pleated to Sett we cut away the excess fabric in the massivly deep pleats to keep the total amount of fabric manageable. But this does result in huge amounts of waste.

;

OK I'm curious about this one. For some reason I can't shake the image of a kiltmaker stitching up the extra fabric and trimming off a bunch of fabric from the inside of each pleat. Somewhat like when a double width piece is ripped down the warp then brought together center back but on each and every pleat reducing the pleat depth from 6-7 inches to something more common...

**The Wizard of BC** · 22nd April 19, 06:14 PM

Actually we calculate the pleat layout beforehand. This shows us where any super deep pleats will occur. We can then cut away the excess and do the same exact type of fabric joins that we would normally do.

All of this is done prior to stitching the pleats.

Instead of one invisible fabric join hidden in the pleats, there may be 5-7 joines. But when the kilt is complete no one can tell.

But this does result in a bin full of scraps. Luckily the 78th have quite a few small uniform accessories like epaulets and cap flashes, that can use up some of the scraps.

This would probably not be practical, in terms of the cost of the wasted fabric, for a one off job

**Bad Monkey** · 22nd April 19, 07:02 PM

wow
It makes sense, I just had never thought that there would be times a kiltmaker needed to 'lop off' a number of extra deep pleats.
Thanks for taking the time to walk it through.

**The Wizard of BC** · 22nd April 19, 07:05 PM

I wish I had a photo for you.

**Farmer Jones** · 1st May 19, 04:58 AM

Originally Posted by The Wizard of BC

From a strictly kiltmaker standpoint -

<snip>

On the inside of an alternate stripe kilt you will see alternating pleats of different depths and there is nothing wrong with this.

<snip>

I was intending to ask a question about this and you have answered it. When this question of large setts came up, I went and checked one of mine and found this was the case. It has two depths of pleating.