Design and construction part4

Pleating and stitching
Pleating to the stripe

A kilt can be pleated with either box or knife pleats. A knife pleat is a simple fold, while the box pleat is bulkier, consisting of two knife pleats back-to-back. Knife pleats are the most common in modern civilian kilts. Regimental traditions vary. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders use box pleats, while the Black Watch make their kilts of the same tartan with knife pleats. These traditions were also passed on to affiliated regiments in the Commonwealth, and were retained in successor battalions to these regiments in the amalgamated Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Pleats can be arranged relative to the pattern in two ways. In pleating to the stripe, a vertical stripe is selected and the fabric is folded so that this stripe runs down the center of each pleat. The result is that along the back and sides of the kilt horizontal bands appear which look different from the front than from the back. This is often called military pleating because it is the style adopted by many military regiments. It is also widely used by pipe bands.
Pleating to the sett

In pleating to the sett the fabric is folded so that the pattern of the sett is repeated all around the kilt (especially in the waistband). This is done by taking up one full sett in each pleat, or two full setts if they are small. This causes the kilt to look much the same from both front and back.

Any pleat is characterized by depth and width. The portion of the pleat that protrudes under the overlying pleat is the size or width. The pleat width is selected based on the size of the sett and the amount of fabric to be used in constructing the kilt, and will generally vary from about 1/2" to about 3/4".

The depth is the part of the pleat which is folded under the overlying pleat. It depends solely on the size of the tartan sett even when pleating to the stripe, since the sett determines the spacing of the stripes.

The number of pleats used in making the kilt depends upon how much material is to be used in constructing the garment and upon the size of the sett.

The pleats across the fell are tapered slightly since the wearer's waist will be narrower than his hips and the pleats are usually stitched down either by machine or by hand.
Highland dancer. Note that the action of the kilt is dependent on the way the kilt is constructed. A dancer's kilt with traditional velvet vest is shown here.

In Highland dancing, it is easy to see the effect of the stitching on the action of the kilt. The kilt hugs the dancer's body from the waist down to the hipline and, from there, in response to the dancer's movements, it breaks sharply out. The way the kilt moves in response to the dance steps is an important part of the dance. If the pleats were not stitched down in this portion of the kilt, the action, or movement, would be quite different.