I do take the words as kind advice, and actually re-did pleat #2 twice. Once when I finally got some thread to match the fabric, and again as I didn't like how it was lining up. Still not happy with how it's coming out, but the stripes are matching up much better.

As for the thimble, my wife grabbed her athletic tape (that's what you get when your wife does judo, runs 1/2 marathons and goes to the gym everyday) and taped up my finger. That's been working quite well.

There is a big part of me that wants to get this done and I feel as a result I am rushing through it and not giving it the attention to detail it deserves. I took tonight off to hopefully step back, take a deep breath and relax. 5 pleats are done, and though it doesn't look nearly as good as W2F's XMark (great work by the way), I must tell myself this is the first thing I've ever sewn in my life and to not be so hard on myself. It won't be a Barb T, Kathy L, Matt, Rocky, Steven A, etc. kilt, but it will be a kilt I've sewn with my own two hands. That means a lot to me.