Pipers plaid

[glasgow32]

Yesterday I found a little over six yards of double width heavy weight Forbes tartan I bought 4 years ago packed away in the closet. I have taken three yards and made a pipers plaid. Question is the fringe. Are there other options to the fringe? I do like the fringe, however unsure on how to proceed.

[creagdhubh]

Yesterday I found a little over six yards of double width heavy weight Forbes tartan I bought 4 years ago packed away in the closet. I have taken three yards and made a pipers plaid. Question is the fringe. Are there other options to the fringe? I do like the fringe, however unsure on how to proceed.

Fringing can be done in two ways: purled or straight. Most, if not all, piper's plaids are fringed in the purled fashion, which is much more ornate and thicker than the straight manner, which the latter is much more commonly seen in ladies sashes.

Cheers,

[OC Richard]

Yes they're always done with rolled fringe, which are minature ropes.

It's not hard to do, just time-consuming. I've made several plaids, both the so-called "piper's plaid" (which is a misnomer, as they were worn in the kilted regiments by all officers and some noncommisioned officers as well as pipers) and the so-called "drummer's plaid (another misnomer, as they were worn by all ranks from privates to generals, except pipers).

What I've done is this:
-pull out the cross-threads with a comb to create a fringe around 5" to 6" long
-divide the fringe into colour groups as you go along, two groups for each rope, to create a more pleasing-looking final product. You want each rope to be all of one colour, or split between two colours.
-take two bits, roll each bit in one direction, then put them together so that they roll themselves into rope.
-knot the end of each rope. (That's that I do, anyhow.)

Here's examples of plaids I've made, back in the 80s

[MacSpadger]

I have made only one plaid, Richard, and found the fringe the most monotonous tedious chore. I would easily rather make a couple of kilts rather than go through that again.

I used exactly the same method as you, except I used three groups and didn't knot the ends. I was using 20oz material and two groups were just too thick and chunky to stick to one another. (Besides, I believe in the power of 3 )I wet the threads before rolling them and they dry into a sort of corkscrew shape that means the tassles are still holding firm after about a decade or so.

But I really wouldn't want to do it again.