A few thoughts on pleating to the stripe

[M. A. C. Newsome]

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

[Sheep In Wolf's Clothing]

Wow what a lovely kilt. I love kilts pleated to the stripe, most of the kilts I own (or make) are pleated this way. Thank you Barb for the wonderful tutorial!!
Sara

[Barb T]

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

Thanks, Matt! I'm glad to know this. You are THE BEST!

[RockyR]

snip...
The Hunting Stewart tartan, which has a relatively large repeat, is customarily pleated to alternate stripes (yellow and red) when pleated to the stripe....

I think we'd call that the ketchup (or catsup) and mustard stripes.

[Barb T]

I think we'd call that the ketchup (or catsup) and mustard stripes.

Nice....!

[SteveB]

The kilt is wonderful, and as usual a work of art. As has been said on many other threads, when having a kilt constructed, it is best to consult with the kiltmaker, and his/her experience with the tartan. I prefer kilts pleated to sett, however, I will not part with two that I have pleted to stripe. Both were at the advise of the kiltmaker, and were the right way to go. (Thanks Rocky, Thanks Emma (not on XMTS).) There are some tartans best box pleated and many best knife pleated, and many that are open to any form of pleating. Again, the person working with the tartan usually knows best that which will be something to be proud of.
Cheers

[Barb T]

When I'm make a kilt for someone who is potentially interested in having a kilt pleated to the stripe, I pin up a sample (more than one, if there's more than one option), plunk it on my flatbed scanner, and scan the pinned tartan. I just email a couple of jpegs to the customer and let them choose. Works great and saves the trouble of taking a photo and downloading the file.