Hello! I'll soon be making my husband's first great kilt. In order to save money and be sure that he likes this style, I'm planning to use cotton flannel for this first one. Assuming he likes the style and fit, we'll save for better fabric down the road.

I looked at the fabric selection at my local Joann's, and they seem to have only 44 inch flannels. I do see plenty of 56-58 inch fabric online, but I hate to buy any without being able to hold it and know if it's the right weight for us (it can be quite hot where we live, and he only liked one very light flannel from Joann's). Annoyingly, the Joann's fabrics don't list the weights in the descriptions, so I have no way of comparing them to the online fabrics. Should I buy the Joann's and make a short great kilt for him? Or perhaps buy double the amount of fabric I need, trim it to 30 inches, and then sew it together to make the proper width (which seems too pricey, considering the low quality of this fabric)? Or perhaps someone can suggest a proper weight to look for in the online fabrics (remember, it's hot here)? Any help, opinions, or ideas would be greatly appreciated!