sett vs stripe

**lorilavon** · 15th April 23, 01:03 PM

Hello all -

Are there certain tartans that are "supposed" to be pleated to the sett vs the stripe? I'm making a kilt for my husband out of MacAlister tartan, which is much busier than many. He was leaning toward pleating to the darker blue stripe, however we ran across someone saying that it should really be a single stripe against a solid background, and this would have a thin white stripe down both sides of the blue, against a red background.

So I guess my questions are:
1)In pleating to the stripe, is there technically supposed to be only a single stripe showing on each pleat?

2) Depending on the answer to the above question, what are your thoughts/opinions about a busy tartan pleated to the stripe vs the sett?

IMG_3839.jpg

to the stripe.jpg

**Father Bill** · 15th April 23, 01:30 PM

There are others far more experienced and expert than I, but I'll try to kick off the discussion.

There are no tartans that are supposed to be pleated one way or the other. Some pleating for some tartans look very nice pleated to the stripe, and you can get some interesting effects that way, but it's not required. Nor is pleating to the sett for that matter, but in Scotland, if you ask them to pleat to the stripe, they may look at you as if you have two green horns and purple scales. They normally pleat to the sett as the default.

There are no rules about pleating to the stripe; just try to find something that is attractive.

Now the experts will likely chime in and leave me in the dust.

Cheers and congratulations on a momentous and unique undertaking. The result will be something to cherish and wear with delight. You should have Barb Tewkesbury's book on kiltmaking in hand; it will save you from a lot of errors and help you to frame your questions for the experts.

**lorilavon** · 15th April 23, 06:56 PM

Thank you for your good advice! I do have Barb Tewksbury's book, and it has been my primary guide through this process. Not totally sure where we'll end up, but now leaning toward pleating to the sett, as this is the more "ancient" style, as my hubby is all about the historical styles of kilt making/wearing. (Looks like pleating to the stripe is a more "modern" style - past 100 yrs or so?). As well as the fact that there isn't one stripe that passes the "squint test" on this particular tartan. Thoughts?

**PiperPadre** · 15th April 23, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by lorilavon

Thank you for your good advice! I do have Barb Tewksbury's book, and it has been my primary guide through this process. Not totally sure where we'll end up, but now leaning toward pleating to the sett, as this is the more "ancient" style, as my hubby is all about the historical styles of kilt making/wearing. (Looks like pleating to the stripe is a more "modern" style - past 100 yrs or so?). As well as the fact that there isn't one stripe that passes the "squint test" on this particular tartan. Thoughts?

You can't go wrong with pleating to the sett.

I've had my prejudices about this ever since I started wearing kilts as a kid. It always seemed to me thet something of the beauty of the sett is sacrificed when pleated to the stripe.

**Father Bill** · 15th April 23, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by lorilavon

Thank you for your good advice! I do have Barb Tewksbury's book, and it has been my primary guide through this process. Not totally sure where we'll end up, but now leaning toward pleating to the sett, as this is the more "ancient" style, as my hubby is all about the historical styles of kilt making/wearing. (Looks like pleating to the stripe is a more "modern" style - past 100 yrs or so?). As well as the fact that there isn't one stripe that passes the "squint test" on this particular tartan. Thoughts?

Actually, I'm led by some to believe that box pleating is actually the more ancient style. I have two kilts - a Sinclair modern pleated to the sett, and a Sinclair hunting modern, box pleated to the stripe, box being the forerunner, I'm told, of knife pleats. I love both. For those who are concerned about weight and heat, they are both 16 oz, but the box pleat is slightly lighter and cooler so . . .

. . . Ya' pays yer money and ya' takes your choice. Should you be interested in box pleats, I believe Barb has an online appendix on how to do that successfully.

**lorilavon** · 15th April 23, 08:10 PM

oy vey! This is my first kilt, so I figured knife pleats would be "easier" (that being said, I've been sewing garments (not kilts!) my entire life). I'm open to the idea of box pleats, but don't know much about them. Does pleating to sett or stripe even matter for box pleats? Maybe I need to step back to look at this more closely...

**Father Bill** · 15th April 23, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by lorilavon

oy vey! This is my first kilt, so I figured knife pleats would be "easier" (that being said, I've been sewing garments (not kilts!) my entire life). I'm open to the idea of box pleats, but don't know much about them. Does pleating to sett or stripe even matter for box pleats? Maybe I need to step back to look at this more closely...

Mine is box to the stripe and I love it. Your call. Box are likely easier to construct but I’m no kiltmaker. I sew on buttons pretty well.

Oy gevalt!

**figheadair** · 15th April 23, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by Father Bill

Actually, I'm led by some to believe that box pleating is actually the more ancient style. .

Correct. Even (balanced) box pleats are the earliest sewn form and date to c.1780-1800. An increase in the amount of cloth caused a change in style to and overlapping box, something Bob Martin called a 'box-knife', and then somewhere around the middle of the 19th century we see the introduction of knife pleats. Even so, box pleats were still the standard form until the 1880s. In every style they were pleated to stripe.

Pleating to sett came in c.1880-90 and was the reason for the increase in the amount of cloth to the standard 8 yard kilt.

**lorilavon** · 16th April 23, 04:22 PM

Thank you all for the great info and history on pleating!

I think we're leaning toward knife pleating to the sett, despite the fact that it's "newer" compared to box pleating, for a few reasons:

1) I already purchased 4 yards of the 16 oz tartan (double width).
2) We kind of like the "swoosh" of the knife pleats
3) I like the idea of preserving the aesthetic of the sett throughout the pleats (along with the fact that this tartan doesn't have any one stripe that is asking for attention)
4) For what it's worth, we like the idea that this is the most common style in Scotland right now (compared to stripe knife-pleated in the US).
If you have any more thoughts on this, keep them coming! I'm learning so much!

**OC Richard** · 21st April 23, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by lorilavon

what are your thoughts/opinions about a busy tartan pleated to the stripe vs the sett?

IMG_3839.jpg

It seems to me that once a tartan gets to a certain level of congested complexity the back doesn't look all that much different however it's pleated.

Our band has that! We wear Prince Charles Edward Stuart which is one of the more test-pattern-like tartans.

Half of our band kilts are pleated to the stripe, half to the sett, and honestly the difference doesn't really stand out.

About your tartan, it's important to know the sett repeat size to figure out how it can be pleated. Because that tartan, if having a large enough sett, can be pleated in ways that it couldn't be if it has too small a sett.