Kilt Pleats

**KWD** · 21st January 11, 11:16 AM

I am wondering, is there a set number in a knife pleat should there be 30 somthing pleats on an 8 yard kilt? or does it depend on the tartan set?

**ForresterModern** · 21st January 11, 11:37 AM

It all depends on how much tartan you have to work with, how big the sett size is, and whether you want it pleated to sett or to a specific stripe. A good kiltmaker will give you the options, then figure out how many pleats may be allowed with that information. If there are other factors I have missed, others please feel free to correct me.

jeff

**Llwyd** · 21st January 11, 12:36 PM

Pretty much..legnth of fabric going into the pleats...divided by number of sett repeats in that length...an eight yard kilt may only use up six or seven yards in the pleats...or of the sett is really small you may not be able to get that much material into it...ie the pleats may be too small...pleat width is a function of sett size and width of the pleated section...

**ForresterModern** · 21st January 11, 12:53 PM

Ddoh! forgot that your waist and hip measurements can affect this if they are at one or the other extreme---very big or very small---as you can only fit so many pleats into a small waistline and it takes a lot of fabric to cover a large waistliine which means probably less pleats or less deep pleats.

**Barb T.** · 22nd January 11, 06:12 PM

With 8 yards of tartan, an average sett size (6-8"), and an average-sized guy, a kilt with 25-27 pleats is really common. Pleating to the stripe gives you a couple more pleats on average for a given tartan. For an average-sized guy, a kilt with 30 pleats would require either more than 8 yards or tartan with a smaller sett (say 5").

**KWD** · 23rd January 11, 06:59 AM

Thanks that is the information I needed.

I always know for whatever question I may have, I can come here, someone will have the answers.

**Barb T.** · 23rd January 11, 07:17 AM

It's a common misconception that a kilt has to have a particular number of pleats (and typically someone says something like it has to have 29 pleats, or something like that). Let's look at an example that illustrates very clearly why the tartan tells you how many pleats you'll have.

Suppose you have 8 yards of tartan and an average-size guy (40-42" hips). The kiltmaker will use up about 100" in the apron, underapron, deep pleat, inverted pleat, facings, and center back join. That leaves 188" for the pleats. If you were pleating to the stripe, and the sett were 7", you could make 188/7 or 27 pleats. If the sett were 9", you'd have only 21 pleats. If you were pleating to the sett, it would be a few pleats less than that in each case.

**Barb T.** · 23rd January 11, 07:18 AM

oops - hit reply instead of edit. sorry

**Jay** · 23rd January 11, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by Barb T.

It's a common misconception that a kilt has to have a particular number of pleats (and typically someone says something like it has to have 29 pleats, or something like that). Let's look at an example that illustrates very clearly why the tartan tells you how many pleats you'll have.

Suppose you have 8 yards of tartan and an average-size guy (40-42" hips). The kiltmaker will use up about 100" in the apron, underapron, deep pleat, inverted pleat, facings, and center back join. That leaves 188" for the pleats. If you were pleating to the stripe, and the sett were 7", you could make 188/7 or 27 pleats. If the sett were 9", you'd have only 21 pleats. If you were pleating to the sett, it would be a few pleats less than that in each case.

this is good to know.

thank you.