I started with some beautiful fabric I've had for ages. It's a crinkle cotton woven with richly colored stripes. I started kinda backwards as I draped the pleating first, then figured out the base shape.
Luckily the width was fine for me so I didn't need to piece lengths together. I tossed the fabric over my dress form and began to play...err... drape the pleats.
Once I had the pleating to my satisfaction I roughed out the base shape, again using the dress form to check curves and fit. From there I cut the base shape out of mid-weight satin and ironed on the interfacing.
I basted the pleated fabric to the base wrong-sides together. I decided to not do it right-sides together because of the bulk. I would have nearly 6 to 8 layers at some points if I did due to the pleating. I'll bind the raw edges when done. To keep my pleating secure I folded up and away each pleat...
...and stitched it at the base through all the layers. Only the very bottom layer of fashion fabric is stitched down, leaving the folds to drape naturally.
I basted around the raw edges and then trimmed up with my rotary cutter.
I missed pics of pinning the bias tape around the bottom :[ To spiff the plain black bias tape, and to secure down over the multiple layers, I decided to use one of my machines decorative stitches. I found a repeating scallop that was similar to the wide gold stripe pattern. I used rayon embroidery thread that also matched the gold stripe. The waistband is finished with satin blanket binding. I did not use a decorative stitch here, but I may go back and add one.
