[MacWage]

Hey,

I was talking to Matt about how he "sized" the boxes in a couple tartans I am making (these are for me). He mentioned that if a box pleat is made with 1.5 repeats, it creates a "sett" repeat in a box pleat. I had aready thought of trying that and began a "cheap" fabric version of a wool Wallace tartan, just to see IF I liked the resultant look BEFORE I tried it on 16 oz Strome. On one of the tartans I was planning a doubling, but didn't like how it would look. I mentioned/complained the great variance of the setts in 16 oz tartans, even from the same mill. I am beginning to think that 2.5 is the LEAST I want in a box and like them closer to 4 inches for my own kilts, producing fewer, wider pleats. The three I am messing with will be 6, 7, and 8 pleats across the back. Two of these are 1.5s (and a 3rd of 4 as soon as I get the Wallace tartan)! The Carolina has 11 2/3inch repeat, the X Marks is 5.5 inches, and MacNeil is 6.5 inches.

The REASON a sett is reproduced is simple. A box pleat is made by 1/3 of a pleat being the facing and 1/3 on each undercut. If the facing pleat part is centered on the same stripe, it is 1/3 of total repeat.
BUT if the maker uses 1.5 repeats that facing is 1/2 of the repeat. The next pleat (the one before AND the one after) will be the other half of the repeat. Thus, for every two pleats, a repeat is created. For a tartan such as MacNeil of Barra the edges of a 1.5 repeat pleat false RIGHT at the center of the black! The result is an alternating yellow on green and white on blue centered pleats! THAT looks MUCH better (to me) than a mass of green on back. I was first thinking of this on a Wallace tartan. If done as 1 pleat, then the result is either a black mass (with reddish horizontal striping) or a red mass (with black-ish stripes). A 1.5 has the pleats running on the lines BETWEEN the red and black, making a kilt that correctly creates a sett (and a MUCH better looking kilt, in my opinion).

As the number of box-pleat kilt makers is growing, and will likely BOOM after "The Art of Kiltmaking V. 2" comes out, I thought it informative to let ya'll know that a sett pleat is possible on a box pleat. Whether that is the way to go depends A LOT on the tartan and how it will like up and look. A simple one (like Wallace, Erskine, or MacGregor "Rob Roy") or one that "halfs" easy (like Macneil of Barra) will look good as a 1.5, while others look better as a single or doubled repeat pleats.

(IF this belongs in Kiltmakers section, Mods, feel free to move it over. I flipped a coin between DYI and Kiltmakers and tails won.)

Just thought I'd pass it on.
From myself and as advise TO ME from one of the most popular and skilled of box-pleat kilt makers,

[Dreadbelly]

Cool... I wonder how Douglas would look to the sett in a box pleat?