Making my first kilt

[Barb T]

I think they may have been engineered to approx. align the sett at the bottom of the apron edge (but don't seem to have paid any attention to the centre pleat/centre stripe at the back).

Not having a centered back stripe would look really odd. By putting in a hidden pleat, you could engineer a centered front and back stripe and have the sett flow seamlessly from the apron to the pleats when you're pleating to the sett (but only at the very bottom of the apron, as you point out). But, frankly, I don't think it's worth it. Just let the apron edge fall where it does in the sett, and tell yourself not to agonize about it!!!