Sounds like he did not finish the kilt....he is supposed to grab a handful in front of his leg and behind the other leg then pull the back one over his shoulder and use an iron pin to hold them together in the front...this part has now become the "plaid" that the modern pipers wear. It also gets rid of a LOT of the excess hanging fabric and becomes a handy all around pouch to stuff things into....

For stage or weddings I used to hand pleat the fabric then sew in a wide band...oh...about an inch wide to hold the pleats in and all they had to do was lay it out...lay on it and tie the ends of the band...flap it over and buckle the belt...then the afore mentioned process...for some of these I would wet press the pleats in for a sharper but non-historical look...kind of like the whole Rob Roy thing...