Usually a wool fabric is 54 inches wide, here in the UK.

Whenever I have found material that is 58 or even 60 inches wide it has some man made fibre - you can tell by dissolving the wool out in bleach - whatever is left after 24 hours in undiluted bleach is not wool.

Possibly the wool weavers have older looms, as maybe the profit on wool is less than other natural and man made fibres, but it always seems to be the case that wider fabrics are not all wool.

At least so far.

If buying from a knowlegeable source they should be able to advise you on the assymetrical tartans, but if you find a marked down bolt of something that looks nice it would be adviseable to look at it carefully to make certain that it will match when cut in half and rotated.

Another possible problem I have found with some material is that the selvages are not at the same place in the pattern, so one side would have to be hemmed to get the pattern to run continuously.

This was not a tartan, just a plaid pattern, and I noticed it and bought enough to make two kilts each one continuous length.

Anne the Pleater