Pleated to sett or stripe?

[pdcorlis]

Is this a 4 or 5 yard kilt? This looks like the compromise that often gets made when the total length of material is less than 8 or so yards.

[Aldisimo]

Whatever the scheme, I'd certainly enjoy wearing such a beautiful work of art.

[ChattanCat]

It is actually pleated to the Stripe. If you look at each pleat there is a stripe down the center of each one.
It's interesting that they were able to almost imitate the Sett while pleating to the Stripe. Kinda cool concept.

If this were pleated to the Sett the ratio of the Sizes of the elements of the Tartan pattern should be the same front and back.
As ChattanCat says you can't always make it perfect but at least the ratios should be the same.
Also, if pleating to the Sett all of the elements of the Sett should still be present even if the overall Sett is squished or stretched a by 1 or 2%.


Pleating this way breaks some of the rules though. The prominent stripe used for the center of the outer apron should be centered in the back too.

I also think that the back looks sort of busy. That may only be the Tartan so I will have to look at and experiment with some other Tartans and see what a different Tartan would look like

I would say it is pleated to the sett. Every element of the tartan is represented in the pleats. Pleating to the sett poses different challenges with each tartan. Some tartans require some imagination and planning to get all the elements represented in the tartan. I would say that the tartan was very easy to decide on the method of pleating. I just finished an Isle of Sky, pleated to the sett and it was more difficult to pleat.

[Barb T]

When a kilt is pleated to the stripe, every pleat is identical. So the kilt in the first post in this thread is definitely not pleated to the stripe, even though there is, in fact, a stripe down each pleat. The kilt below shows what pleating to the stripe is:



The kilt shown in the first post in this thread is not pleated to the sett, either, because the sett is not replicated in the back of the kilt. It's close, but you'll notice that the red stripes on the edges of the triple green blocks aren't present. The kiltmaker also didn't make any attempt to preserve the proportions of the tartan sett.

Having said this, you'll notice that the tartan sett is _huge_ - I'm guessing 12" based on the likely size of the apron. It's always a challenge to pleat a tartan with a huge sett, so sometimes a kiltmaker makes compromises when trying to pleat such a tartan. I don't know if the maker was a knowledgeable kiltmaker or not, so it's hard to say why he/she chose to do it this way.

Steve is right that the center back and front stripes should be the same.

[ChattanCat]

The kilt shown in the first post in this thread is not pleated to the sett, either, because the sett is not replicated in the back of the kilt. It's close, but you'll notice that the red stripes on the edges of the triple green blocks aren't present. The kiltmaker also didn't make any attempt to preserve the proportions of the tartan sett.

Good catch, I didn't see the missing element.
Thanks

[Wompet]

¾ sett? My first impression was ½ sett (a term Barb coined), but as she didn't use it in her post I had to take a second look.
Looking at the hem, and what appear to be pleats of different depths - would I be wrong in guessing that this is a 4-5 yd kilt? My 5yd Hunting Robertsons show similar deviations from pleating to the sett.

[cloves]

so would this be an example of "cheating" the sett?

[ChattanCat]

so would this be an example of "cheating" the sett?

I guess "economizing" would be a good term. If you have similar elements that repeat in each sett, they can be used when it calls for the element. I really don't like having unequal pleat depths, and havn't done a kilt with unequal depths... until now.

I am working on a MacKenzie dress, pleated to the stripe. The sett is 10 5/8". There are two white stripes that will give almost the same pleat depth, only off by a little, 1/8". I am using 8 yards, if I pleated to the completet sett, I would need more yardage with the same pleat size.

Cheers,

[Barb T]

so would this be an example of "cheating" the sett?

When I use the term "cheating the pleats", I use it in the sense of some or all of the pleats not having a full sett in the hidden part of the pleat. You have to do this with a really large sett unless you're willing to settle for a small number of much bigger pleats. But, done properly, "cheating the pleats" doesn't show from the right side of the kilt because you still show the full sett in the reveal. What Wally describes is what I call cheating the pleats. The pleating in the first post in this thread isn't.

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Pleating to the Creative? I did something similar when I only had 2 yards of Braveheart movie tartan to work with. Also, my daughter's MacPherson baby kilt is pleated this way (I didn't do that one) I think it looks neat, but in reality, it's probably just a way to get more pleats into the kilt.