The Art of Kiltmaking

[davidlpope]

It's a useful phrase for the method of pleating to an area of the tartan which has no vertical elements at all, that is, to a large vacant area of the sett. When I think of "pleating to the line" I think of each pleat having a prominent vertical line.

This "pleating to the block" idea is still "pleating to the line". The only distinction is whether the vertical element that exists in the section of the tartan used for that pleat encompasses the entire width of the pleat or not. In other words, you're still pleating to a line, but the line/stripe is so broad that it is the only design element seen on that portion of the pleat, which I guess leads one to think that there is no vertical element. I appreciate that most kilts pleated to the line are pleated to a narrow line (usually four to eight threads wide) which produces the clear and unique vertical element centered on the pleat that you are alluding to, but this doesn't change the fact that it isn't a separate type of pleating. In my mind it's a distinction without a difference.

As Steve has pointed out below, the key fact that distinguishes the two types of pleating is whether the same design element is replicated on every pleat (pleating to the line) or the pleating replicates the full sett across the back of the pleat (pleating to the sett).

David