Thanks for the welcome, everybody.

For those that asked, I used plain black fabric of indeterminate composition. It was the finest, cheapest fabric in the remnant bin at Wal-Mart. It turned out to look pretty good, and it's strong, too.
I used these directions:
http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/chegc/kiltsite/page2.htm
but I changed them a bit where I had other ideas. I went with the 'hill walker' option, also known as the 'less pleats to deal with' option.

I added in:
- a change pocket [on the inside, just next to the right hip buckle]
- an under-apron pocket with a seperate credit card sized pocket
- some bits of velcro between the tops of the aprons to help things line up better
- 5 belt loops, which were embarrassingly difficult to do for some reason
- I changed the leather buckles to a black... strap thing [like you find on school bags]. I found black belt buckles designed to fit them.

As for myself, I'm a student of linguistics and entomology, although currently I'm just drifting. For the past year I've been wandering across north america, mostly penniless. I never would have guessed it before, but people everywhere are really nice and generous. As long as one is friendly, it seems there are always folks willing to help out.

Yours with a proper name,
Derek