Completed first box pleat!

**Midsmed** · 12th July 09, 04:05 AM

A fine looking kilt you made .Cheers

**raibeart_dubh** · 12th July 09, 09:37 AM

Thanks for all of the comments and pointers!

I have pressed the dickens out of it with a tailor's ham, but still the same result. I'll probably try pressing the fell again when I get a chance this week.
Also, the fabric is a poly/wool blend. Does that make a difference in regards to it's ability to be shaped by pressing?

**psyopper** · 12th July 09, 06:35 PM

Great looking kilt! I would agree with the above comments about puckering though would add a second idea to it.

Puckering is caused when the tension of the fabric does not equal the tension of the thread. This can happen for a number of different reasons:

1. Unmatched shrinkage rate between the thread and fabric. If you use a cotton thread on a poly material, the thread (being cotton) will shrink faster than the poly. Vice versa- a poly thread on a cotton base and the body will shrink faster than the thread. To resolve this your best bet is to used matched thread types... Cotton thread with cotton base, poly thread with poly base, etc.

2. As mentioned, uneven tension between the thread and the base.

2a. If you stretch or pull the material as you sew the material will "shrink" back into place when it relaxes - I like to think of it as "material tension" in comparison to setting your "thread tension" on your machine. At each thread plunge the layers are locked together, between thread plunges the layers are free to move, and thus pucker.

2b. Alternatively, you could have your thread tension set too high which will pull the plunges toward each other and also cause some puckering.

**MacKay71** · 12th July 09, 08:42 PM

Good looking kilt!

**Barb T** · 15th July 09, 07:59 AM

Just a couple of questions!

First, what's the weight of the tartan? Given the size of the sett, I'm suspecting that it's F&Ks 10 oz. If that's the case, that might be part of the problem. With the wide pleats, there isn't much supporting the tartan in the fell.

Second, did you put canvas in the pleats?

Third, how close together are your stitches in the fell?

**Dall_Piobaire** · 15th July 09, 08:44 AM

That is awesome man, I could never even imagine taking on such a thing. I would get frustrated, and it would become napkins or oil rags!

Great job!

**raibeart_dubh** · 15th July 09, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by Barb T.

Just a couple of questions!

First, what's the weight of the tartan? Given the size of the sett, I'm suspecting that it's F&Ks 10 oz. If that's the case, that might be part of the problem. With the wide pleats, there isn't much supporting the tartan in the fell.

Second, did you put canvas in the pleats?

Third, how close together are your stitches in the fell?

Barb,

Yes it is either 10 or 11 oz. I know the warnings from the book, but I bought a significant length of this fabric really cheap to make a couple of "first trys" out of. I knew it was really too light to make a box pleat from but I decided to do it anyway to get the hang of the box pleat procedures before I spent a lot more money on 16 oz. wool.

I had the same problem with my first knife pleat as well, in which I used 9 yards of fabric. It was fairly hefty in terms of weight but I still had the dimpling effect. In fact the dimpling in the knife pleat was far worse.

Yes there is canvas in the pleats, Tailor's Pride as recommended.

My stitches are very close and small. Should they be spaced a little farther apart or closer? Am I maybe pulling the stitches too tight?

**Dixiecat** · 15th July 09, 11:32 AM

I would concur that you are pulling your stitches too tight. Especially when the dimpling is also occurring in your hem. Try pulling out some of your hem stitching and sew it again with a looser hand.

**Barb T** · 16th July 09, 07:20 AM

Originally Posted by raibeart_dubh

I had the same problem with my first knife pleat as well, in which I used 9 yards of fabric. It was fairly hefty in terms of weight but I still had the dimpling effect. In fact the dimpling in the knife pleat was far worse.

Yes there is canvas in the pleats, Tailor's Pride as recommended.

My stitches are very close and small. Should they be spaced a little farther apart or closer? Am I maybe pulling the stitches too tight?

Huh - I pull my stitches really tight, too, and I don't have the dimpling problem. And you shouldn't have dimpling from doing that if you keep your stitches close together. It's when they're far apart that the issue comes in. Can you give me a better idea of how close your stitches actually are? 1/4"? 1/8"? 1/16"? 1/32"?

What was the fabric like in your first kilt? Was it kilting tartan? When you say "fairly hefty", do you know what it might have been in terms of weight? And are both of these fabrics twill weave? Or are either of them plain weave?

Can you post a pic of the knife-pleated kilt with a close-up of the pleats? And can you post a close-up of the pleats in your new BW kilt?

Hmm - here's another thought. I wonder if the opposite is actually happening - are you stretching the fabric when you're sewing the pleats? In your second picture, it looks like the actual lines of stitching are nice and straight (no puckers), but there are little bubbles between adjacent lines of stitching. Looks almost as if the fabric is stretched out a little. If you can have someone take a picture of you stitching a pleat, maybe we can track down whether something's happening during sewing. Maybe I'm off in left field here, because I would think that that would press out during pressing, but I can't think of anything else at the moment.

**raibeart_dubh** · 16th July 09, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by Barb T.

Huh - I pull my stitches really tight, too, and I don't have the dimpling problem. And you shouldn't have dimpling from doing that if you keep your stitches close together. It's when they're far apart that the issue comes in. Can you give me a better idea of how close your stitches actually are? 1/4"? 1/8"? 1/16"? 1/32"?

What was the fabric like in your first kilt? Was it kilting tartan? When you say "fairly hefty", do you know what it might have been in terms of weight? And are both of these fabrics twill weave? Or are either of them plain weave?

Can you post a pic of the knife-pleated kilt with a close-up of the pleats? And can you post a close-up of the pleats in your new BW kilt?

Hmm - here's another thought. I wonder if the opposite is actually happening - are you stretching the fabric when you're sewing the pleats? In your second picture, it looks like the actual lines of stitching are nice and straight (no puckers), but there are little bubbles between adjacent lines of stitching. Looks almost as if the fabric is stretched out a little. If you can have someone take a picture of you stitching a pleat, maybe we can track down whether something's happening during sewing. Maybe I'm off in left field here, because I would think that that would press out during pressing, but I can't think of anything else at the moment.

Barb,

I used the same fabric for my knife pleat. I don't know off hand how heavy the knife pleat turned out but with a lot more pleats it feels to me about the same weight as a Stillwater Standard. Maybe even a little heavier. I'll try to get some photos of it and also a measurement on my stitching. It may be the weekend before I have the time to do so. I honestly thought it would have come out with pressing too. Oh, the fabric is twill weave with kilting selvedge.