Quote Originally Posted by Barb T. View Post
Matt does this for box pleated kilts, and it makes a lot of sense for certain tartans for that kind of kilt.

I've seen trad knife-pleated kilts kilts on occasion that are pleated to alternate stripes, but it's my impression that it's not considered "proper" for a knife-pleated kilt. If someone knows differently, I'd be happy to be educated!
Whether or not a kilt can be successfully pleated to alternate stripes (whether it's a four yard box pleated kilt, or an eight yard knife pleated kilt), will depend upon the sett size.

When you pleat to alternate stripes, you are effectively treating the sett as if it were either a) half the actual sett size, which works well when dealing with exceptionally large tartans, or b) one and a half the actual sett size, which works well when dealing with tartans with a small repeat.

The Hunting Stewart tartan, which has a relatively large repeat, is customarily pleated to alternate stripes (yellow and red) when pleated to the stripe. As far as civilian tartans go, I've seen full eight yard kilts pleated to alternate stripes once or twice. It's certainly not common, but it can be done, so long as the size of the tartan allows for it.

M