[finlay marquisl]

Small medium or large?
I bought the tartan the tracking indicated it will arrive Friday.
I bought the Barbara Tewksbury's book and I have no idea when it will arrive.



I would like to go ahead and order the buckle straps so they would be here but have no idea about the size. Is small, Medium or large just a preference to the look or is the function determined? I'm ordering from highlandzpress because it was recommended from this site.

http://www.highlandxpress.com/bucklestraps.html

I'm doing the Texas Bluebonnet tartan and have been wondering the best way to pleat it. I have enough tartan to do either 8 yard knife pleats or the box pleats.

Is there a site with a calculator to show the looks of varoius pleats? Just wondered because I found one that would let you design your own tartan, That was interesting.

Thanks for your help.

[chasem]

The large buckle/straps at Highland Expressare 1 1/4" which is what you'll generally want for a typical man's kilt.

Oh yeah, the pleating: I'd suggest pinning different ways of pleating to see what you think looks best.

[mycoleptodiscus]

Personally, I would pleat it to the stripe with the green stripe on center. I found that it's easier to measure your pleating if you are always measuring the same distance from so-and-so stripe. This will have strong lateral dark blue stripes so if you're short and squat, this would probably not be the look for you. I also like the color change look when you walk that comes from the green showing and the light blue in the folds. You could also pleat it to the yellow stripe. Just cut and paste the picture into MS Word. Crop the picture to what you want each pleat to look like. Format the layout of the picture to to "other" and copy and past the pictures right next to each other. You will need to get the tartan to get the measurements of the pleat width, but this should at least give you a general idea.

[Barb T.]

Pleating to the stripe is easier to lay out, but it is typically more difficult to pleat perfectly, because you have to keep the stripe dead center on every pleat or it shows. If you're pleating to the sett, each pleat is different, and one slightly off-center stripe isn't going to be noticeable. I typically tell first time kiltmakers to try pleating to the sett - it's more forgiving. But, lots of people don't listen to me, and they make perfectly dandy kilts.

So, ultimately, it's up to you. Test pin, and stand back about 20 feet to see what the overall effect is. And avoid the dreaded lawn chair effect. And, it's crucial to do this with the tartan, not just in PhotoShop with a scanned and cloned image of the tartan. If the pleats taper at all from hips to waist, you should pin the test _with_ the taper to make sure that you don't lose stripes between the hips and the top. Here's an example of a pleating that wouldn't work well if the pleats taper:



And, if you're in Texas, I just got your book order today, and I'm sending it out tomorrow morning. I tried to send a confirmation email to you, but it bounced.

[mycoleptodiscus]

I see what you mean about the taper and "discovering" new stripes when the pleat tapers. That's pretty horrendous. I don't think that would happen with the layout I suggested as there is nothing of note close to the green stripe.