Pleated Organza Dress by Marcia Spencer
Baby Lock Ambassador Marcia Spencer of Keechii B Style shares this show-stopping hot pink dress, perfect for layering on a night out or for any fashion-forward event. Organza can be tricky, but Marcia uses her Baby Lock Altair sewing machine to tame even the squirmiest fabrics. Check out her Instagram post to see how she gets this result.
Marcia started by drafting a simple pattern with front/back bodice pieces and ruffles. She made this one by hand, but you can start with similar patterns such as M7948, S9602, and ME 2016. If you're looking to challenge yourself and create your own pattern, consult Marcia's process below for inspiration.
When drafting her pattern, she opted to create pleats instead of gathers to create more dramatic volume. Marcia also widened the collar of her bodice block, dropped the sleeve, and cropped the front to give this garment the desired oversized effect.
Before starting on her pleats, she added a pleated ruffle measuring at 62 inches, and folded the ruffle in half for a clean hem.
She added two additional tiers that each have two pleats in the front and back.
The third pleated tier has deep pleats about 6"-7" in length. To create this, Marcia cut 5 large strips of organza the width of the fabric (56").
Marcia finished her seams with French seams, which give a beautiful finish on fabrics like this organza.
For more bold looks like this one, follow Marcia Spencer.
