Which type of pleats should I choose?

[piperdbh]

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I DO like box pleats, and since you have 7 yards of this tartan, you might consider making a 4-yard, box pleat kilt, and from the remaining 3 yards you could make yourself a half-plaid and a fly plaid, or a special lady in your life could make herself a pleated skirt or any number of things, including a snazzy jacket of some sort (for you or her).

Just a cheapskate's perspective!

[davidlpope]

For this particular tartan I would pleat to the red stripe since it is bordered on both sides by the same color, blue. The white stripe is bordered by two different colors, green and black. Nothing says you can't pleat to a stripe like this, but I think the back of the kilt looks much better when the pleats are consistent.

For what it's worth, I highly recommend 6yd knife pleated kilts in heavyweight tartan. Matt Newsome has made several of these for me and they are wonderful. These have all the benefits of the heavyweight tartan and retain the traditional look of a modern knife pleat kilt (each pleat is a little wider) but are so much better balanced and comfortable to wear.

Having sewn two home-made kilts, I would encourage you to save your pennies and have Matt sew this up for you. His craftsmanship is superb and the fit will be excellent. There are certain skills (kilt-making, surgery...) that come as a result of repeating the same techniques over and over. In my mind the trade-off between cost savings and the quality of the finished product leans to having the pros do it.

Best of luck either way!

Cordially,

David

[Oddern]

For this particular tartan I would pleat to the red stripe since it is bordered on both sides by the same color, blue. The white stripe is bordered by two different colors, green and black. Nothing says you can't pleat to a stripe like this, but I think the back of the kilt looks much better when the pleats are consistent.

Having sewn two home-made kilts, I would encourage you to save your pennies and have Matt sew this up for you. His craftsmanship is superb and the fit will be excellent. There are certain skills (kilt-making, surgery...) that come as a result of repeating the same techniques over and over. In my mind the trade-off between cost savings and the quality of the finished product leans to having the pros do it.

You are right about the bordering colors hmm.. Have to think about this.
Regarding having Matt sew it up; I live in Norway and it would cost me a fortune just in freight and not to forget the Norwegian tax, it's awful.

[JSFMACLJR]

and from the remaining 3 yards you could make yourself a half-plaid and a fly plaid,:

What is a half-plaid?

[piperdbh]

Sandy,
Here's a link to Matt Newsome's blog entry about half-plaids. It's basically the upper part of a great kilt, only detachable.

http://kiltmaker.blogspot.com/search/label/plaid

[Robert Lamb]

I am assuming you have a double width piece of cloth. I would do one of each red and white. f only a single width then go for the red.

[slohairt]

I like the red stripe myself.

[JSFMACLJR]

Sandy,
Here's a link to Matt Newsome's blog entry about half-plaids. It's basically the upper part of a great kilt, only detachable.

[LINK]http://kiltmaker.blogspot.com/search/label/plaid[/LINK]

Yes, now I remember! Thanks.

[Barb T]

Remember to stand back about 20-25 feet to see which you really like at a distance! Colors merge, some stripes vanish, etc.

And is this fabric single or double width?