What Are Cheater Pleats?
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Does my kilt have cheater pleats or honest pleats?
Are cheater pleats historical?
What is the purpose of cheater pleats?
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I have been wearing a great kilt now for 21 years for ren faires and I sowed my pleats in. I went from putting on a kilt taking 45- 50 minutes to 15 so good for my time, and I dont have to roll around on the ground to do that!
45 to 50 minutes?! It shouldn't take more than ten, unless you are aiming to have absolutely precisely even pleats.
I’ve pleated it up at camp. Takes about 10-15 mins. It’s usually a pain in the rear, especially when it’s dirty out.
According to my Scottish maternal grandfather, drawstrings were used from the early twentieth century and possibly earlier. However, they did not go through the Feileadh itself as that would be detrimental to its weatherproofing properties. What they did was sew loops of thread rather like dufflecoat button loops onto the cloth then thread the drawstring through the loops. The string would have a large button or knot on one end to prevent it fully pulling through and thus bunch up the loops when you pull it. I have experimented with this and found that it doesn't work well enough to be useful with a single line. Three lines is OK as long as the loops line up in the vertical direction or you'll have wonky pleats, then the central drawstring can double as a secondary belt, but I still prefer the 'normal' way because all those loops can make it uncomfortable, especially when using it as a blanket. So I would say it's OK for a filibeg but not for a full on Feileadh Mòr, and not for anything too formal either because it's going to be obvious to anyone who gives it more than a cursory glance. I have seen tailored half kilts with the actual belt threaded through the cloth and they look awful as well as not being windproof.
I really love the utility of a greatkilt
I would love to see a greatkilt reimagined through a modern lens, with greater focus on utility and deriving its aesthetic through its functionality.
Apply a sealant to the wool so its a bit tougher and more waterproof. have ringlets at each corner for anchoring as a tarp/tent. a section of drawstring cheater pleats in the middle, with their own little metal ringlets. and a sturdy set of belt loops and attached belt.
really just design it for all the survival uses they used to have, but with a more modern make, giving a little extra durability.
Something very industrial punk about a greatkilt designed for function over form.
There's a method that I've used for pleating and belting the plaid that doesn't involve laying it and yourself on the ground. It involves accordion-folding the whole thing while standing, throwing one end over your shoulder, loosely belting it, then pulling the ends around yourself to form the aprons and spread out the pleats in back. It helps to have an extra pair of hands to get everything arranged and looking right, and it's not as neat in the pleating, but it's good for when you don't have enough dry ground to lay it out.
4:37 the "blanket" bit is precisely correct. In the 1st millennium, the Irish (including those who would eventually become Scots) used a big old patterned blanket as a Brat, or cloak. There was also one battle where there were Dal Riadans (a kingdom that encompassed northern Derry & Antrim up through the Hebrides) and other Irish, and the only way one observer/contemporary historian could tell the difference between the two groups was that the Dal Riadans were in the habit of putting their belt _outside_ their cloaks (presumably to keep the warmth in, because the Hebrides got a lot colder than Ireland).
Thus, it is my hypothesis that the Dal Riadans started out wearing exactly the same clothes as the Irish, but their habit of belting their brats meant they didn't need their leinte (shirts, which often covered down to one's knees, or further) to be as long, and their fashion evolved from longshirt & cloak into shirt & (great) kilt. Thus, the kilt (as distinct from Brat) is a uniquely (Hiberno-)Scottish invention, and not originally worn in Ireland.
Of course, that's all history, and Tradition is nothing more than peer pressure from dead people, so do what you want. I'm just sharing the history.
You're on point with the flexibility of the material. You have far more options without the cheater pleats.
One could also sew in belt loops on each pleat (use the same tartan to hide them a little), I think this is how Fandabi Dozi does his. Similar to the draw string (but without cutting the plaid), just slide the belt in and cinch it up. Once the belt is off it is a regular plaid again; you know, for sharing.
And there is historical evidence of this. I have read in a couple of places that tartan material has been found with belt loops sewn in right where you would expect them to be for this to be done. Not common, but not unheard of.
The belt loop per pleat method was a suggestion I got from the pipe major who taught me and few friends how to pleat our great kilts in my first foray into kilt wearing. We were considering joining an 84th royal highland emigrant reenacting group… I never did it as the stitching seemed rather tedious.
Love your channel, seriously have me considering a modern kilt, for casual wear.
This is what I did and I highly rate it!
I used to do a variation of cheater pleats when travelling to a renfaire a couple hours away. I used large safety pins on the inside to pin every third pleat then folded over the aprons and rolled up from the bottom like a bedroll. Kept everything in place and I wasn't collecting bits of dried grass and debris from the ground that it would have with hand pleating at the venue.
As someone who wears a kilt while performing Scottish broadsword fighting as a HEMA practitioner, having cheater pleats in the tartan would make getting ready for practice and tournaments much easier for me. Because of the added time taken to put the kilt on, I usually tend to just wear a modern kilt instead which I don't like to do.
Remember, that Highlanders would have worn their great kilts for days or weeks on end, without taking it off. Especially if they were driving cattle, or on campaign. Laundry, like bathing didn't happen twice a week, it was more like twice a year.
My mother remembers her Uncle coming back on leave from the Army. The 1st thing he did was take his kilt and put it in the water butt to remove the lice. That was in the late 40's.
You guys should offer cheater pleats and belt loops as well as just blanket style plaid.
SO, You've just given me a great idea for the use of the button eye stitch setting on my sewing machine! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Now, where did I leave that roll of para-chord?
"It's hard too invite someone in your kilt with you, if you have cheater pleats." 🤣🤣 Tell her, she has an earasaid! 😂
Depending on the circumstances, one could handstitch the pleats down with a loose running stitch. It would be easier to unpick than a machine stitch.
Please show the best way to make pockets on a great kilt by folding/tucking.y pockets always have an opening at the bottom that let's stuff fall out
The draw string is better then sewing in cheater pleats, because you still got a blanket, I'm 6 foot and 4 yards is 12 feet so when I fold it in half it is a double layer blanket.
Whip-i-dee-doo-dah! (Song of the South(west of the Highlands of Scotland?) Seriously, check out the UA-cam channel of Fandabi Dozi. Tom has several excellent videos about the ancient Highlanders, what they wore, and goes out with what they had and no more (except for the camera of course). I believe he wears the Great Kilt on those trips. Cheers!
All that being said, can a great kilt be ordered with strategically placed button holes?
Hello!
You mention "double width" for the fabric. How many inches would that be?
That's usually somewhere around 50 to 60 inches
I have one great kilt with cheater pleats and what Happened to me was that I lost a few pounds when I went on a diet and the great kilt became too big for me where as if I did not have cheater pleats the great kilt would still fit perfectly, anyway, I seemed to have gained back enough weight that my great kilt fits me again. The buckles and straps are about 4 inches long and allow for waist size change.
Nice Mjolnir
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Not much mud in Scotland
You just have to watch where you walk in the highlands of Scotland or you might end up in a bog 6 feet deep with green slimy yucky smelly stuff and you can't tell where it is because it's the same colour as the heather and grass around it, I know because a friend of mine went in the bog and we had to pull him out.
Theres the option of letting the wife wear it as a wrap. Theres the cross body. It might not be accurate and might not be historical. BUT I've seen some people wear it as a sash. and thinking about it if I'm traveling in the 18th century and I had pants I would wrap it around my torso as a sash while riding a horse. Say if I was going to a clan gathering I would wrap it to keep it clean and keep me warm. Then when I got to the castle I would take it and fold it and put it on.