And remember that the basting stitches are only put in to keep the pleats aligned during pressing. If you use pins it will leave unsightly puckers.

I believe the reason this thread was started was a question about how to do the basting in preparation for a re-press. Not about basting during construction. I find that pins work far better during construction. Put them in to hold things in place while stitching then quickly remove and re-position them.