Pleating

[GMan]

Way to go Phil, you did a great job in explaining what you did. Thank you.

[Will Macadam]

Just wondering if someone can clear this up.
I have ordered a Kilt from a company in Scotland with pleating to the stripe (Military Pleats) I have also heard this referred to as pleating to the line.
'Back Hame' the 'Civilian' pleat is referred to as pleating to the Sett.
I have seen an example of both pleats and to my mind the Military look is the way to go, because of the way the tatan 'flashes' when walking, and also because it hangs so smartly, and is less 'skirty' looking to me.
On this site I see some posters referring to BOX and KNIFE pleats, I take it BOX = SETT and KNIFE = LINE or STRIPE pleats, am I correct in this assumption?
It might help so we can all be on the same page when using the terms to describe pleats.
Anyone want to clarify, confirm -or corerct?
Ta, Will.

[bubba]

This explains the difference between knife and box pleats. http://costume.dm.net/pleats/
Pleating to the sett means the pattern on the front apron is continued all the way across the pleats and pleating to the stripe means a dominent vertical stripe is centered on each pleat, the sett pattern is not maintained across the pleats. Not all tartans look good pleated to the stripe.

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Really, there's NOTHING more fun than transferring a tartan skirt into a tartan men's kilt. It's simple... really.

Just have a kilt maker take the entire thing apart, and start from scratch with the original material.;)

I can't tell you how many times I've done this for unsuspecting buyers. Funny thing is... if you can get the skirt at a good price, and there's enough material to do the trick, it's a GREAT way to have a quality kilt for next to nothing.

[Will Macadam]

OK understand the box/knife concept now.
So there are four options:
Knife pleat to the line or sett
or Box pleat to the line or sett
Thanks. Will.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Right. Pleat to sett vs. pleat to stripe (to the line, regimental, etc) refers to what part of the tartan is visible on the pleats. Box pleat vs. knife pleat refers to the actual construction of the pleat.

You can read about the traditional style of box pleating on my web site:
http://kilts.albanach.org/

Note, there are box pleats and there are box pleats. Some regimental kilts today are "box pleated" but not in the traditional style, what I call "true" box pleats, where the pleat depth is the same on either side of the box. Modern box pleated military kilts have a shallow pleat depth to the left of the box and a very deep pleat depth on the right. They are made with 8 yards of cloth, like a modern knife pleated kilt, but, in essence, the edge of the pleat is turned over at the end, making a very small "box." But otherwise it is like a knife pleat.

M

[gmcdavid]

Note, there are box pleats and there are box pleats. Some regimental kilts today are "box pleated" but not in the traditional style, what I call "true" box pleats, where the pleat depth is the same on either side of the box. Modern box pleated military kilts have a shallow pleat depth to the left of the box and a very deep pleat depth on the right. They are made with 8 yards of cloth, like a modern knife pleated kilt, but, in essence, the edge of the pleat is turned over at the end, making a very small "box." But otherwise it is like a knife pleat.

Thanks! I had seen such military kilts advertised, e.g. at
http://www.whatpriceglory.com/scot.htm and wondered how they managed to box pleat an 8 yard kilt. I could not figure out how that would be mathematically possible on anything remotely like a normal human body.

Also, the extra work of making such a kilt (turning over the edge of each pleat) seems to explain why they are priced somewhat higher than comparable knife pleated kilts.

Glenn

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Note, there are box pleats and there are box pleats. Some regimental kilts today are "box pleated" but not in the traditional style, what I call "true" box pleats, where the pleat depth is the same on either side of the box.

THAT'S what you're doing? Dang, brother! That's all you!!!

It's a great niche that no one else has attempted to tackle around these parts, and one that I'm going to pass along to a few people.

I had a gentleman ask me about them at a Festival three weeks ago, and I had to admit that box pleats were something that I really didn't know about... so I directed him to your website. Since I haven't heard back from him, I'll guess that he found what he was looking for. There was some Civil War demonstration going on, and he was one of the re-enactors.