Why I Can See Stitches under Pleats Are They Quality Problem?

Recently, we received feedback from a few customers who noticed visible stitches when lifting the pleats on their dresses. Some believed the pleats weren’t stitched at all, assumed the bridesmaid dresses were unfinished, or even thought they were of poor quality—leaving negative reviews as a result. However, this is a complete misunderstanding.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the entire pleating process. By the end, you'll understand why there are stitches under the pleats, and why they’re not a sign of a defect but actually a mark of craftsmanship.

In general, pleats are designed to fall naturally when worn. All the stitching used to hold them in place is hidden underneath. This stitching is essential—it keeps the pleats aligned and prevents them from shifting or unfolding.

For high-quality bridesmaid dresses, especially mismatched bridesmaid dresses with different silhouettes, pleating is often done by hand to ensure a natural, elegant look. The hand-stitching is typically spaced about 0.5 to 1 cm apart and requires careful attention. If it’s too tight, pleats can look uneven. If too loose, they might fall apart. It’s a delicate balance.

Today, I will show you the entire process of making the pleats, so you will understand that our dresses are not unstitched and of high quality.

1. We need to put the main dress on the mannequin first, then cut a piece of fabric

2. The both sides of top end of fabric will be fixed on the dress by pins, then seamstress will creat the first pleat, we need to use pin to fix both sides when one pleat was formed, so by this way, the pleats were created one by one.

3. Our seamstress will form the last pleats, she will cut off extra fabric.

4. Our seamstress will sort out the whole pleats again, during this process, we need to make sure all pleats are in right length and width, so all peats will be look neatly.

5. When all pleats were sort out in good condition, then we will take dress off the mannequin, this step is to fix the pleats in the dress, our steamstress will fix the pleats by stitches hand by hand, it's 1.5-2cm every stitch, the stitch neight too loose nor too tight, that's the whole process of making pleats, the next step is that the seamstress will piece different pieces of pattern into one entire dress.

Warn: since the material is soft satin, it's stretchy, if your real measurements are bigger than dress, then dress will be tight for you, the pleats will be stretched to plain, the pleats will not be obviously, further more, if you take dress off, then stitches will be stretched out, they become obviously if you bring up the pleats, in this condition, you can sort out the pleats by stretching them into both side, then stitches will indent into pleats

If your real measurements are smaller than dress, then pleats will out of shape, they will become loose, so please find a seamstress in your local shop to take dress in.

According to our photo, you can see all pleats were made according to measurements, if error between your real measurements and measurements you gave us less than 1'', then dress will fit you well and pleats will be in right position, but if error is bigger than 1'', then pleats will out of shape or stretch to plain, that's the problem about measurements not the quality problems. 

See What’s Next： How Much Can Color Vary Between Different Fabrics