Pleating the corner of a fly plaid...

[chasem]

I was mainly running off of this post by Matt in another thread

To answer your specific question, there are a few different ways to make a fly plaid. Here is one simple, typical method. The deminsions are roughly 54" square. Most tartan cloth now comes 54" wide. Get a yard and a half of it, and that's 54" x 54". Fringe all four sides. How long of a fringe is up to your own personal taste. You don't want it to be very short, but if it's too long it will just tangle. I say a couple of inches is fine. If you want the fringe to be four or five inches, you might want to purle it.

Then take one corner and sew in some pleats running several inches down, and press them. This is the part that will get pinned at the shoulder. The rest hangs free at the back.

The ones Rex posted appear not to be pleated, so much as gathered. They look what I've imagined, though I've admittedly not studied them much. Is there pleating we're not seeing, or is it just gathered?

[Pleater]

Sorry - I was going to type and then was called away.

When I wanted a plaid to rest the shoulder strap of my drum on and keep it off my neck I found a photo and improvised.

If you get it right the short edge runs from the front to the back, on top and against the neck. The corner is held at the front, just covering a breast pocket on a jacket with its fringes, the long edge goes back over the shoulder and falls down the back of the arm.

The fabric is formed into folds so that the long edge which is hanging centre back forms an elegant waterfall effect, and the edges of the pleats are sharp only for a few inches at the shoulder, and are laid quite close together - not stacked up one above the other.

As the folds are not on the straight of the grain and the fabric is hanging on the bias it is going to stretch a little and then should settle into shape. I would recomend tacking the folds loosely and then letting the whole thing hang for several days, but take it down and smooth the folds a couple of times.

Tack it at about the front of the shoulder, just above where it would have a broach put on, and smooth it into place so the folds hand nicely, then tack it at the back after it has stretched and settled, so when you sew it across somewhere between the two lines of tacking plus anywhere else required to keep it in order, the fabric is happy to stay there.

Fabric on the bias can be fun to work with, but it takes time to settle into shape.

Anne the Pleater

[slohairt]

To be honest, I never sew a pleat into a fly plaid when I make one. I just take one corner, fold the two side corners in (like the first two steps of making a paper airplane), turn it over, pass the held corner through the epaulette, pull it down to breast level and pin. It makes it easier to iron/press out any wrinkles. Also, if the fly plaid is 54" square you could still use it as a wrap/shawl for you (or some else)