Centre stripes

[Tobus]

I wonder if this kiltmaker was simply expressing an opinion on her preference to center a dominant stripe on the apron rather than a non-dominant one.

I've noticed that there's no universal rule on this. As OC Richard's photo shows, you can have two kilts made from the same tartan, with one centered on the dominant colour stripe and the other one centered on the background stripe (that's how I think of it anyway), and they'll look very different. It could be that this woman you spoke to is of the school that prefers to center the dominant one, and so she sees your choice as 'wrong'. When in fact it's just a difference in taste.

If that explanation made no sense, maybe some photos will clear it up. These are photos of two kilts in the same tartan (albeit different colour schemes; one is ancient and the other is reproduction). As you can see, the ancient one is centered on the blue field (which I see as a background stripe), and the other is centered on the dominant stripe. Personally, I prefer the latter. But it's just an opinion, and neither one is 'wrong'.

I can see how in your case, with the very wide sett pattern of the government-sett based tartans which are not symmetrical about the dominant colours, it seems wisest to center it on the non-dominant colour (which centers it on the sett pattern, regardless of colour). I think you made the right choice there, but I don't think the kiltmaker you spoke to was thinking in those terms.