Preparing to make my first kilt.

[Steve Ashton]

If your waist circumference is 36" - then 36/2=18 - slightly more than half could be 19 front, 17 rear. Or 20 front, 16 rear.

If your hip circumference is 41" - then 41/2= 20.2 - Slightly more than half could be 20 front, 21 rear. Or 19 front, 22 rear.
(Please see page 50 of TAoK)

I would ask how you took the hip circumference measurement? 41" seems a bit small and one place you do not want the kilt to be tight is at the hip line. If you were to err it would be best to err large instead of small.
So, when you take a hip measurement please make sure you pull the tap measure out in front to simulate he aprons falling straight down from your belly.

A Fell Length of 7.5 Seems just a bit short. "By the book" - Fell Length is 1/3 of the Drop (without Rise) So a kilt with a Drop of 23 would have a total length of 25 and a Fell Length of 7.66.
A kilt with a Drop of 24" would have a total length of 25" and a Fell Length of 8".

If you are making a kilt In Accordance With (IAK) "The Art of Kiltmaking" please remember that the book is instructions for a Traditional Style kilt with a Full Waist Height. Or the top strap right up under the ribs at the side. The instructions do not work as well for a kilt with a waist height lower than Full Waist Height.
For example - I am exactly feet tall and my Tewksbury kilt had a Drop of 23" and a total length of 25". (Please see page 46 of TAok)

And when measuring the Sett of a Tartan you measure from the pivot points. So find the pivot points and measure from the left side of a line to the left side of the same line in the next full repeat of the pattern.
I can't see what Tartan is in your Avatar very well. Can you give us the name, weaving mill, and the weight of the fabric?

How many pleats your kilt will have depends on a lot of different factors such as the Sett size, the type of pleat, if folding to reveal to the Sett or to the stripe and how many full repeats of the Tartan pattern you have left over after laying out the aprons. (Remember to account for the apron edge hems, fringe, taper, deep and reverse pleats.)