So for a suit of ruffs

I've been fiddling with pleats today, following (soon to be Mistress) Eleanor's instructions for a suit of ruffs, marking the linen at each 1/2 inch. Doing that up seems to me to make enormous pleats. Will that really look good for a ruff at the cuffs?

I can see it doing alright for a collar ruff - maybe - but it still seems large. Unless I am misunderstanding and doing the pleats at twice the size they're supposed to be. Of course, the linen I am using now is fairly coarse. Not fine at all. I suppose that's a big no-no in the ruff-making world?

And then, I did the triple stacked pleats, and then the instructions tells me to stack these piles double on each other. OK, that works fine for like the first two, then there's irreconcileable differences and there's not enough loose fabric in between the pleats to accomplish it. What am I doing wrong, or what am I missing? Do I need to remove pins and loosen one pleat at every other one or what?

Morale booster.

Going through scraps found on my rummage I decided to do something crafty.

I pressed some of the wool scraps and cut out pieces to make little pouches. One pouch already done at this point (about 12 x 14 cm) is made from the gorgeous plummy wool bought in Tallinn and out of which I made my Elizabethan cape. It's lined in linen which I took from the pair of false sleeves that used to go inside the big blue Tudor court gown. For closing I stitched on six little metal rings given me by Lady Elizabeth, a friend in the shire, and braided some of the linen thread I bought at Double Wars last year.
( Picture here )

Quick, easy, satisfactory. A wholesale success - just what I needed after a couple of days of suckitude with projects. I'll be making up a few more out of other wool scraps as well. One made up in the pattern I copied at the class given at University by the then Princess. Period Patterns ... boy was that a confusing experience. It took us a while to figure out what pieces needed to be cut out and in how many layers. At this point, the lid bit says I should cut ten of it. I don't believe it, of course, but goes to show that the bad reputation of Period Patterns - is totally warranted.