pleating to the sett & the elements of the sett - Do I have this right?

**Barb T** · 31st October 09, 11:38 AM

There's no black in this tartan, actually. The dark color is green, and I've marked out above what I referred to as the "green undercheck". It would be a symmetrical block if the stripe on each side of the khaki (beige) were the same color, but it's not.

The pleats in the kilt in the photo are slightly more than 1" in width at the hips. So, if you could get 35 pleats out of using a single sett per pleat, you're likely to get only 17 if you double the sett. For hips of 45", you'll probably split the hips evenly (22.5" fore and aft), making the pleats a bit more than 1 1/4" across at the hips. I think for a man of your size that it would be OK and preferable to 35 narrow pleats. But it points up the problem with a sett that's small - it's too small for a normal # of pleats but not so small that you get a normal number of pleats by doubling the sett. That's why most commercial kilting tartan is woven with setts between 6 and 8". I have no idea why they wove it so small in 16 oz tartan.

If you decide to compensate at the top for putting in a narrow hem at the bottom, use only a 1 1/2" rise when you lay out the kilt. You can make the top band wider, if you want, to compensate. Better that than having the tartan reverse at the center back.

Oh - and just an aside! I actually didn't take a photo for either the images above. I just plunked the kilt on a scanner. Handy trick to know about if you have a scanner.

**fluter** · 31st October 09, 12:27 PM

I bow to the mast... er, mistr... err, kilt goddess.

Originally Posted by Barb T.

Better that than having the tartan reverse at the center back.

I do have this nagging vision of a reverse Kingussie, with a mirror-image sett on each side of the center back. IF all of the stripes lined up between the two pieces, of course. But actually the vision that sticks with me is 8 yards of single-width Maple Leaf.

**Barb T** · 31st October 09, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by fluter

I do have this nagging vision of a reverse Kingussie, with a mirror-image sett on each side of the center back. IF all of the stripes lined up between the two pieces, of course.

The only way you could do this is to have a seam right down the center of the center back pleat. If you did a reverse Kingussie, that would be essentially hidden, which is what I assume you were thinking, Ken. But, you'd have to live with the fact that the twill line would slant one way on one side of the center back and the other way on the other side.

Could be nice, and would certainly be one way to solve the problem if you had only 4 yards double width!

**fluter** · 31st October 09, 08:10 AM

To keep the pleats the same size: You could "shrink" elements B, C, E and still preserve the look of the sett. Or if there's enough space and fabric, you could turn some of those wider elements into 2 pleats.

Love that Maple Leaf tartan!

**Barb T** · 31st October 09, 08:32 AM

Ah, the Maple Leaf. I've made several kilts from it, and here are the things that I considered when I pleated it. Here's a pic of the back of one of the kilts:

The tartan is asymmetric, but the only aspect of asymmetry is the fact that the dark green undercheck has a centered khaki stripe that has a different color stripe on each side. This is actually a tough one, because everything else about the tartan is symmetrical. Unless you happen to be extremely lucky in the sizes of your pleats, the only way to retain equal width of the dark green wide stripes is to split the central khaki stripe down the middle. Every other option makes one green stripe wider than the other, unless, as I said above, you happen to be extremely lucky in pleat sizes.

So, I chose to retain the overall symmetry of the red and green undercheck by splitting the central khaki stripe in the green undercheck. I just didn't think it would look right to have the wide greens be different in width, although that is certainly an option. This is not an easy peating option for a beginner, though, because it requires precise pleating for the pair of pleats that split the stripe. And I chose the wide khaki in the red undercheck for the center front and back, because that element is a symmetrical element, and it looks better to center a symmetrical element than an asymmetric one.

The _other_ thing you have to deal with is what to do about the fact that the sett is only about 4.5" (if you have F&K tartan). This is a really small sett. If you put one sett into each pleat, you'll have a tremendous number of very shallow pleats. If you double the sett, you'll have fewer pleats that will be wider and deeper, and, unless you're a smallish person, you might not have enough tartan if you only have 8 yards. I doubled the sett on all the ones I made and used over 9 yards of tartan in each one, with 23 or so pleats in each. Great, heavy kilts, with lots of swish, but also a lot of tartan. If I had only 8 yards, I'd probably still double the sett and have larger, fewer pleats, but I can give you some advice on that if you tell me how much tartan you have and what the hip measurement is for the kilt.

OK - and the last thing that you likely have to deal with if you bought the tartan from F&K is that the tartan is likely not to be square. I've had several double width pieces of this stuff, and one half of a double width piece is worse than the other. You can easily check to see if your piece is afflicted with the problem. Lay the tartan out on a table with the long edge parallel to the table edge, and line a framing square or T-square up with the edge. The cross stripes on a good piece of tartan should essentially line up with the other edge of the framing square. If it they don't, your tartan is skewed and you really have to deal with it before you make the kilt. I've had pieces of Maple leaf that are off by a couple of _inches_ across a piece only 25" wide - i.e., the weft and warp aren't perpendicular to one another.

I learned the hard way that you _have_ to deal with this before you make the kilt if you want to solve the problem. Here are two strategies. Rip the tartan to the right width, and then get someone on the other side of the tartan to help you pull the tartan on the bias, stretching it against the skew direction. Takes a lot of pulling. Or, you can skew it opposite the skew direction and steam it square. Helps to have a big table (I put a wool blanket on top of a table) and someone to help you skew the tartan while you steam. Keep checking with a framing square or T square, repeating until it's square. Because one edge of the F&K tartan seems to be skewed more than the other (at least in my limited experience), you have to do slightly different things on the two halves if you're splitting a DW piece. That's why I suggest ripping the tartan to width before de-skewing. Once it's de-skewed, you can lay out your kilt.

And, as Steve says, all the pleats have to be the same width. And if you have only 4 yards DW of an asymmetric tartan, the kilt will need a hem (see the kiltbook appendix on dealing with asymmetric tartan). So be sure to allow for the hem when you rip the width!!

**Bugbear** · 2nd November 09, 11:53 PM

Hmmm, I can see how pre waxed and cut thread would save time and hastle. I haven't made a kilt, just steeked and removed the extrafabric, canvas and so on, for a Stillwater. I do recall using a lot of time fumbling with thread and wax etc, while trying to hold the kilt and keep the cats away, and trying to remember what I was doing...

Not that I really know anything much about sewing. I'm an imbecile with a needle.

:

**Barb T** · 3rd November 09, 06:16 AM

You wax thread for two reasons: two keep the thread from snarling, yes, but mostly to keep it from wearing so much. And I don't mention using prewaxed thread because, for stitching the pleats, you need to use matching thread, and it's not easy to get lots of colors of waxed thread at a local store. Here's a web site that does carry it, if you're interested:

http://www.thethreadexchange.com/miv...Fchn5QodA37BLg

Besides, I don't find it a hassle to use a chunk of beeswax.

As far as pins go, I've taught kiltmaking to quite a few people, and, without exception, they can make more perfect pleats if they pin. Doesn't mean you have to pin, but it's what I suggest for beginners. Even if it adds a couple of hours overall to someone's first kiltmaking experience, most people are happier with a job that looks better in the one place that it really shows if you've done a sloppy job.

And I still pin my pleats and don't find it slows me down. I am really really fussy about making pleats perfect, and I find that, if I don't pin, I wind up taking pleats out and restitching them.

**Tartan Hiker** · 3rd November 09, 07:49 AM

I quickly found that pinning was a good idea. I always pin one pleat at a time...you lose less blood that way.

**Bugbear** · 3rd November 09, 08:09 AM

I suppose you could make up several waxed threads off a spool before starting, and have them ready to go. Noing the way things go when I'm sewing, though, they would all end up tangled in knots.

**jhockin** · 3rd November 09, 10:51 AM

Just wondering how close together you experienced kiltmakers make your stitches, on pleats in the fell?
I've been trying to make a stitch on every 2nd twill line - but this means (esp. with 16 oz. material, and going through 3 or 4 layers) that I have to push the needle all the way through one side, then back up through the other side, rather than being able to work the needle from the top side only. If I DO work from the top only, I end up with a stitch about every 3/16" or 1/4" ; which doesn't seem like it would be enough, to make a kilt "to last a lifetime".