When I ordered my X-Marks tartan from Freedom Kilts, long ago, I PM'd Steve and said "I can't wait to make my first kilt!"

...and he wrote back right away and said "No you don't! You practice first!"
so I went on ebay and bought some inexpensive tartan wool and went to it, with Barbs book in hand. That first handsewn took me 47 hours to make. Thats' a LOT of hours, and it's by no means perfect though I still wear it. All things considered, it came out remarkably well.

I then went on to make two more tartan kilts, handsewn out of less expensive stuff, like material I got from Fraser and Kirkbright's remnants. I pleated one of them to sett and one to stripe. I'm wearing one of them right now.

at that point I figured I probably had this thing figured out, and I made the X-Marks kilt out of nice 13 ounce worsted and I must say that it looks pretty darned good.

Moral of the Story...don't be afraid to practice 2-3 times before diving into that $70 a yard stuff. If you're careful you will still produce wearable garments, though they won't be as nice as your Masterpiece!