My first Mil Box Pleat kilt DIY

[george7]

It's looking good.

[sydnie7]

Looks great! But those are knife pleats, yes? Unless I am seeing that picture all wrong -- and 31 box pleats doesn't sound right, either. Any case, a nice-looking fabric made even better by the pleat-to-stripe.

[Daibhidh O'Baoighill]

Looks great! But those are knife pleats, yes? Unless I am seeing that picture all wrong -- and 31 box pleats doesn't sound right, either. Any case, a nice-looking fabric made even better by the pleat-to-stripe.

Actually, no it's not a knife-pleat. A militarty box pleat (rolled pleat) is different from a traditional box pleat. Here is a link at Lady Chrystel's website which might help.
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/lady.chrystel/kilts.html

[Daibhidh O'Baoighill]

Looks GREAT Hector! Do you find that the military box pleat uses more material that a knife pleat? I am seriously thinking of trying this with a piece of MacEwan tartan that has been sitting in my closet for a year ( since I no longer use it for a great kilt).

Thanks,
David

[hospitaller]

Looks GREAT Hector! Do you find that the military box pleat uses more material that a knife pleat? I am seriously thinking of trying this with a piece of MacEwan tartan that has been sitting in my closet for a year ( since I no longer use it for a great kilt).

Thanks,
David

Hi David,

well I couldnt really say that it uses more fabric than a knife pleat, mainly because a knife pleat can be as shallow as 2" and as deep as 4" or whatever is necessary to maintain either the sett or the next stripe.

With a military box pleat though, you will always use whatever is necessary to go to the next sett or stripe, times 2.

Meaning, in my tartan, the sett is about 3.75", so I use 2 setts (or stripes) for one complete pleat.

[sydnie7]

Actually, no it's not a knife-pleat. A militarty box pleat (rolled pleat) is different from a traditional box pleat. Here is a link at Lady Chrystel's website which might help.
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/lady.chrystel/kilts.html

Thanks for the link. "Rolled" makes more sense than "box" to this literal mind of mine

[Daibhidh O'Baoighill]

Thanks for the link. "Rolled" makes more sense than "box" to this literal mind of mine

You are welcome! Always glad to be of assistance.

[hospitaller]

Here are the finished pleats.

whew! what a job making those military pleats is!

fold, press, then line, now press again, fold on itself and line with next pleat, press again, pleat, press and repeat.... yikes!

all in all it was a very interesting learning experience, as the first half I pleated one by one, then folded them at the same time, and the second half I did the entire pleat one at a time.

Turns out the last hald went faster than the first half.

It gets difficult at times to remember to press the underside of each pleat to maintain crispness and shape, but its something to remember for next time.

Some more photos of today's finished pleats.

Tomorrow I'll sew the fell, and try to finish it complete with straps and all.

Work time today, from 10 am to 6 PM with several 'coffeee breaks' in between.

Finished pleats, 7/8" reveal, about 2" deep.


Detail of the pleats

[hospitaller]

Looks great! But those are knife pleats, yes? Unless I am seeing that picture all wrong -- and 31 box pleats doesn't sound right, either. Any case, a nice-looking fabric made even better by the pleat-to-stripe.

No, those are Military box pleats (or rolled).

31 pleats sound right to me. Not everybody is size 30.