Kilt Pleats

[KiltFitz]

I think knife pleats personally. Since it is a darker shade of black watch, there won't really be a strong-contrasting dominant stripe in pleating to the stripe such as you see in Tobus' picture of a MacKenzie/Seaforth.

I agree that military pleats are superb. My next planned kilt will be in FitzGerald Military Tartan and will definitely have them (although I also love the look of Lady Chrystal's double box-pleat), however the beauty of line-pleating is in the "reveal" when walking.

With so much material you could have an excellent knife pleated kilt made with dense pleats which will deliver a splendid rear view and a wonderful motion (dependent on weight). What a wonderful quandry to be in however! Be sure and show us pics once it is made!

[Tobus]

I think knife pleats personally. Since it is a darker shade of black watch, there won't really be a strong-contrasting dominant stripe in pleating to the stripe such as you see in Tobus' picture of a MacKenzie/Seaforth.

True, that. Part of the charm of military box pleats is the tight "to the stripe" pleating on a bold colour (usually yellow, red, or white). You're just not going to get that from Blackwatch since it's a fairly homogenous tartan which doesn't have any accent lines. But then again, the same will be true of any pleating style you use for this tartan. So if you want this kilt to have a special feature, it's going to have to be in the pleating style, not in the choice of colour arrangement. Which is why I think the MBP style is the way to go. Especially since you already have a knife-pleated kilt. Why not go for something different?

As I understand it (and as explained in this thread), before the regiments were combined into the RROS, there were two different pleating styles for the Blackwatch tartan. The Blackwatch regiment used knife pleats while the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders used military box pleats. If you go to that thread, you can see photos of how different they look. I think this will go a long way in helping you decide, regardless of which way you go with it.

[David Thorpe]

...the beauty of line-pleating is in the "reveal" when walking.

A high-contrast "flash" is nice, but a high-contrast (exposed) stripe to which to pleat is a separate but also attractive feature.

[Nathan]

pleated to stripe.jpg
pleated to stripe2.jpg

I like the look of military box pleats just as much as knife pleats. Mine is certainly a well balanced kilt, comfortable with a good swish and it is made with less yardage than my knife pleated kilt which is pleated to the set. I've upped the exposure on the pic to give you a good view of how the pleats hang. My one caveat with these is that due to the shallow nature of the pleats to this stripe, they have a tendancy to flatten when you sit down. If you're going to wear the kilt a lot, maintaining it can be a real chore. Rolling it doesn't do it any favours and I've had to have mine rebasted a few times... not cheap.

My deep knife pleated kilt behaves much better when I sit on it. Just another consideration.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Ive made many Black Watch kilts over the years, the majority four yard box pleated kilts (as that is what I specialize in). The only picture I can come up with at the momement though, it this candid one taken at the Stone Mountain Highland Games a couple of years ago. It shows the kilt from the back. It's a regimental weight tartan, pleated to the line, in this case the black stripe on the green field.

[David Thorpe]

Very nice, Matt. The black line gives the visual illusion of twice as many pleats half as wide as they are.

[GLASGOW]

Thank you all so much.
Yes, I overstated the amount of fabric! Shouldn't have said "bolt", was at a loss what else to say....

I have about 79x56 inches of material, laid out flat on the table. Couldn't say the weight, but it feels about 2mm thick.

Am I correct in thinking this would be enough?

[sydnie7]

Thank you all so much.
Yes, I overstated the amount of fabric! Shouldn't have said "bolt", was at a loss what else to say....

I have about 79x56 inches of material, laid out flat on the table. Couldn't say the weight, but it feels about 2mm thick.

Am I correct in thinking this would be enough?

If you have 79 inches of "double width," that is just under 4.5 yards of kilt width. Pretty much limits you to a box pleat or "casual" level knife pleat (fewer, shallower pleats).

[Paul Henry]

Yes as Sydnie has said, your options are going to be quite limited, but you would still be able to get a presentable lighter weight kilt, but you also will be limited as to what type of pleating repeat you would be able to achieve. But even so it would be great to put it to use after all these years.

[Tobus]

Oy! With only that amount of tartan length, scratch the MBP from the possibilities list.

In which case, I'd definitely go with a standard box pleat like Matt showed above.