Step Seven: The Plaid.

Now that you have finished creating a great looking kilt, what’s all this extra material for? That’s the plaid. The highlander used the plaid for a variety of things like storing food and other items, wrapping up and keeping warm, and as protection during battle.

There are several popular ways to tie the plaid and it usually comes down to the functionality and comfort you require at the time to decide which on is appropriate. Here are the most popular ways to tie the plaid but feel free to come up with a few of your own.

The Standard Over the Shoulder:

This is the most commonly seen plaid for the breacan feile. It looks easy but it does have a few secrets to make it look right. First, orient yourself and the two corners of the plaid in front of you. You will have a left and a right corner.

Take your left corner and fold it over itself about 3 inches, in order to get a clean top edge. Take the end and wrap it around your back to the left and tuck it into your belt at the small of your back. Don’t pull too hard or you will pull out the pleats.

Take the right corner and wrap the excess amount of tartan around itself a few times, to take up some of the material. Bring this right corner over your left shoulder across you chest. Reach back and grab the longest length of plaid hanging down behind you and bring it up to your left shoulder. Join these two piece together and you are done. Finish by adjusting and cleaning up the plaid to your personal comfort and appearance.

The Quick Around the Neck:

This style of plaid is becoming increasingly popular because of its ease and speed of preparation. Just take the two corners of plaid in front of you and tie them together. Bring this loop up and over your head and behind the neck. Reach back and grab the longest length of plaid, pull it up, and tuck into the material behind your neck over the knot. Now it’s tied and out of the way.

The Highlands Overcoat:

This is an extenuation of the around the neck plaid. Once you have tied the two corners together and placed the knot behind your neck, turn and grab the longest piece of plaid hanging behind you. Bring it up and under the knot from the bottom. Make sure there’s enough to make a hood that will cover your head. Hanging by your sides are the arms of the overcoat.

Bring them around and over your arms to make a complete wool cocoon. This is excellent on cold days when the wind has a wee bit of a chill to it.

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