My sewing teacher said my darts were pointing the wrong way

I had been making dresses for like 3 years and could never figure out why the bust fit weird. My teacher at a workshop in Austin finally pointed out my darts were angled too low by about an inch. She said darts need to point toward the fullest part of your bust, not just straight down. I moved them up a bit on my next project and the whole bodice laid flat for the first time. Has anyone else found a small fit change like that made a huge difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthewross19d ago

Honestly, sounds like your darts were just trying to point at the floor instead of the party.

wren_jackson19d ago

That's a great point about the angle being the real issue. In my experience, a lot of pattern instructions just say "point darts toward the apex" but don't explain you need to actually measure where that is on your own body, not just guess based on a size chart. Taking that extra minute with a measuring tape and a pin can save you hours of seam ripping later. Your mileage may vary, but I've seen people get way better results by shifting the dart tip just a quarter inch at a time.