I have seen what must have been a high quality bought skirt of this type, though it was long past its best, and very worn - very tiny too. It had 'Made in Scotland' and 'pure wool' on the lable.
It was 27 inches long - half the width of the fabric, with a kilting selvage.
The waistband was cut across the fabric, selvage to selvage - as the sett was not precisely square and the band gradually went out of alignment across the apron. The band was only narrow, more like a binding for the top of the kilt. It was reinforced with petersham ribbon put in the front/outside of the band. The uppermost buckle and strap were sewn to the waistband, so there was no rise.
The under apron and the pleats were lined with a normal skirt lining attached by being sewn in under the waistband and joined to the folded over edge of the under apron. There were a couple of light tacks at the edges to hold it in place at the edges of the small pleats. It looked as though at some time it had been expertly replaced, or perhaps it was an addition after purchase.
I can't remember which side it fastened, I'm afraid.
There were two visible strap and buckles and a hidden adjustable slider arangement to hold the under apron at the waist.
The pleats were quite shallow and had 1 and 1/4 inches visible along the waistline, they were tapered and sewn down by machine, close to but not exactly on the fold line.
There was no reinforcing between the lining and the pleats, and the pleats were not cut. The measurements showed that there were several inches more ease at the hips than standard skirt construction, probably to preserve the sewing of the pleats, as the waist level buckle and the slider showed evidence of being under pressure but the lower buckle did not.
Anne the Pleater
Linear Mode
