Pleating challenges #1: dealing with a too-wide central stripe

[pdcorlis]

Great job as usual Barb - a question if you don't mind.

How do you taper to the pleats holding the triple yellow stripe?

[pipesndrumsnun]

Barb,
You are VERY cool! Thanks for looking out for us!

[turpin]

Great job as usual Barb - a question if you don't mind.

How do you taper to the pleats holding the triple yellow stripe?

It looks like she tapered on th eoutside only for the triple yellow stripe. Wool should have enough give to allow for that by putting a teeny bit extra taper in all the other pleats. Of course, I may be all wrong, but for the yellow that looks like the onliest way.

[Barb T]

It looks like she tapered on th eoutside only for the triple yellow stripe. Wool should have enough give to allow for that by putting a teeny bit extra taper in all the other pleats. Of course, I may be all wrong, but for the yellow that looks like the onliest way.

Not entirely sure what Phil meant by his original question, but let me take a stab at it. As Turpin says, wool is very "shapable". If you're making a pleat with a central stripe, color boundary, or a solid color, both sides of the pleat are tapered, and both edges cross the straight grain of the fabric at a shallow angle. If you're making a pleat that has a stripe along one edge (such as the narrow center yellow stripe in the pics on page 1), then that edge is parallel to the straight grain and all of the taper is taken up along the other edge, which will lie at an angle to the straight grain of the fabric. It all gets flattened out in the pressing.

In general, you'd choose to put a stripe (or set of stripes) along one edge rather than in the center of a pleat so that you can put all the taper on the other side of the pleat in the adjacent color block so that you don't lose stripes as the pleat tapers.

Phil - does that answer your question?

B

[pdcorlis]

Phil - does that answer your question?

B

Why yes Barb - yes it does. Thanks so much!

[The Wizard of BC]

Well Barb, as usual you have done a masterful job. Thank you for this example.

I do have one suggestion though. The next time you come across a tartan like this you should do what I do.

Ball all the fabric up into a big wad. Then toss it all up into the air over your layout table.

Then get your pin cushion and pin where ever one fold of fabric falls onto another.

Much simpler and quicker than your method.




Or, a tried and true method is to simply take the bolt of fabric into the other room and lay it on Erin's table when she is not looking. Then you go and get a cup of coffee and when you come back, Voila, perfect kilt.

[Barb T]

Ball all the fabric up into a big wad. Then toss it all up into the air over your layout table.

Then get your pin cushion and pin where ever one fold of fabric falls onto another.

Much simpler and quicker than your method.

Or, a tried and true method is to simply take the bolt of fabric into the other room and lay it on Erin's table when she is not looking. Then you go and get a cup of coffee and when you come back, Voila, perfect kilt.

Both are _outstanding_ solutions!!

B