[auld argonian]

So if the pattern repeats every four inches, how does this work:

fold 2" under and then a 3" piece before folding 2" under again...this gives a "reveal" of 1" and the pattern repeats on what I assume is the 5th pleat.

This is not fabric (it is wool) of the heaviest weight (I may end up hemming it to get more weight though the selvedge is really good) and basically I'm aiming for a casual kilt...I bought six yards of the stuff and have to get around a 40" butt. I'm kind of basing my math on some of the websites on kiltmaking but I just want to doublecheck it with some of the folks who have some experience.

best

AA

[Southern Breeze]

AA- the best advice I can give is to get a copy of the Art of Kiltmaking if you don't already have one.You may want to check your local library also.
Always remember the Tailors Prayerear Lord,please don't let me screwup!
Best of luck with your kilt.

[Canuck]

Originally Posted by auld argonian

So if the pattern repeats every four inches, how does this work:

fold 2" under and then a 3" piece before folding 2" under again...this gives a "reveal" of 1" and the pattern repeats on what I assume is the 5th pleat.

This is not fabric (it is wool) of the heaviest weight (I may end up hemming it to get more weight though the selvedge is really good) and basically I'm aiming for a casual kilt...I bought six yards of the stuff and have to get around a 40" butt. I'm kind of basing my math on some of the websites on kiltmaking but I just want to doublecheck it with some of the folks who have some experience.

best

AA

If you bought 6 yds you could make three 4yd casual kilts. or one 8 yd or 2 6yd.
You are implying that you want to pleat to the sett. So you want to recreate the pattern in the pleat section. From the size of the sett you could easily bury a double sett in each pleat and 4x the sett for the reverse pleat and the left pleat under the over apron. Depending on how you want to split the measurements you are pleating between 20"to 22". Casual sewn down kilts have a pleat width of 1.25-2" wide. If you are going for 1" wide pleats there will be very little taper involved for the waist which can be a good thing.
As already suggested Get Barbs book. It is easy to follow and there is a good system of determining the width of pleats just by using a tape measure and counting.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Auld, check your PM's.

RJI

[Barb T.]

A 4" sett makes very shallow pleats whether you pleat it to the sett or to the stripe. I agree with the suggestion of using a double sett to determine the pleat spacing, rather than a single sett. That way, each pleat will be a little less than 4" deep, and the kilt will swing better. If you use 6 yards and double the sett, though, you won't have that many pleats and they'll be pretty big. So, it will look like a typical casual kilt even if you use all 6 yards.

Barb