DIY attempt number 6

**Calico** · 24th January 12, 06:15 PM

Pleatonic. Boo!

**Mickey** · 24th January 12, 07:16 PM

Looks like another super job in work here. Thanks for the pics. Really helps out a chicken_ _ _ _ like me whose hands start to tremble when they get near the bolts of tartan here

**Aspiringloser** · 24th January 12, 07:23 PM

Calico: I was wondering if anyone would catch it. No one mentioned the Whitesnake reference at the beginning either.

Mickey: Just start with some PV and go for it. The PV is much less expensive so if you mess it up it doesn't sting as badly. My personal opinion is that wool is actually easier to sew. So if you can perfect it on PV then it'll be smooth sailing on wool.

I just finished the join. It was actually a bit harder on the wool. The wool began to fray as I got nearer the bottom of the fell. I fixed this by basting the fold over then blind stitching it down. I think from now on I'll do it this way all the way from the bottom to the top. It makes it much easier to handle.

**xman** · 24th January 12, 07:43 PM

AL FTW!

It can be a consuming passion can't it? Your pleats are looking good from here and that can be a real stumbling block for some being so time consuming and specific. Way to go!

**thescot** · 24th January 12, 07:44 PM

Your posts are facinating, and the work looks beautiful. But at this rate you really will have to change your online screen name.

**Aspiringloser** · 24th January 12, 07:48 PM

I'll never change. I'll never stop aspiring to lose.

**Mickey** · 24th January 12, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by Aspiringloser

Calico: I was wondering if anyone would catch it. No one mentioned the Whitesnake reference at the beginning either.

Mickey: Just start with some PV and go for it. The PV is much less expensive so if you mess it up it doesn't sting as badly. My personal opinion is that wool is actually easier to sew. So if you can perfect it on PV then it'll be smooth sailing on wool.

Never was into Whitesnake or any of the other "W" bands of the 80's. lol

I have a crapload of XMTS PV that I'm slowly working on, as well as my wife's Cthulu tartan. It's not so much the fear of messing up a tartan but failing in general. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and get highly annoyed with myself if I don't do a great job out of the gate. My fear is that I'm setting myself up for a lot of anguish and re-work, which will further irritate me.

My hobby/semi-side profession is building custom fishing rods. I've been known to build, then strip and re-build rods upwards of a dozen times because I wasn't happy with my threadwork in the end. As much as a single thread width being off in just one place can send me over the edge.

Plus I'm not a great book learner. Barb's book is great, and I've read it so many times that I can nearly recite it. I need to see or preferably do something to get it. That's why I appreciate your pics (and everyone elses, btw) so much when they get posted. They really help translate words and line drawings into something "real".

And as Scot said... I think you need to change your name

You've actually advanced beyond loser

But I'm about to launch into it in the next week if I can just get a few hours of time to do it.

**Aspiringloser** · 24th January 12, 08:12 PM

I tried something new on this one to help eliminate the frustration of wandering stripes in a pleat. I use a mechanical chalk pencil that gives me fine lines that a piece of blackboard chalk just can not do. I make marks on my center line of each pleat. Then I make my marks to either side of the center at the waistline and the same at the bottom of the fell. I line up a straight edge (I'm using a framing square) and then put another straight edge in a line from the waistline mark to the bottom of the fell. I then draw several light lines with the mechanical chalk pencil. Don't bear down too hard to try to draw the line in fewer strokes. This will skew the fabric and make the whole process of using straight edges in vain. Now do the other side. Still pull the pleat taut per the book's instructions but fold on the line you've drawn. The line on the other side is where the folded edge of the last pleat will lie. Just match chalk lines to chalk lines. I'm pretty satisfied with the results and will likely continue to draw out the pleats. I didn't draw out a center line on pleats that will have a stripe or color boundary at the pleat edge. I simply put my first straight edge on the stripe or boundary and draw the line from waistline to bottom of fell. This is how I did the black pleats on either side of the double teal. Does this make sense?