Dart Manipulation
Dart Manipulation
Dart Manipulation
To create new designs for garments, it is specially used for ladies garments. It
save fabric wastage and also use to remove excess fabric. Darts are needed to
turn two-dimensional shapes into three-dimensional shapes and to fit clothes
closely to the body.
Fig:
Darts in flat patterns (Image courtesy: inthemoodforcouture.com)
Fig-2: Different
dart locations
1. Trim dart excess to within 1/2 inch of the seam line before stitching the dart.
2. Fold the dart excess under and stitch on the seam line.
There are three dart manipulation techniques in flat patterns. These are
suitable for manipulate dart to any location. The slash and spread or pivot
method mostly use to transfer darts to the bust, neck, armhole or anywhere
you want!
1. Pin and pivotal dart transfer technique.
2. Slash-spread transfer and overlap technique
3. Dart equivalent technique
In this method does not require the working be slashed in order to change its
original shape into design pattern. It is a transfer method and with experience,
it is preferred.
Pivot and slide techniques combine these two motions to fit a pattern simply,
yet accurately. You make all of the changes on a worksheet (pattern paper or
tissue paper), keeping the original pattern intact—no more cutting and taping!
By changing the pattern equally on both sides of the grain, the seam and the
design lines are kept in proportion to the original pattern. Best of all, each
change is easy.
1. Straight dart
2. Curved outward dart
3. Curved inward dart
4. Neckline dart
5. Double pointed dart
6. Dart in interfacing
1. Straight dart:
It is a straight line of stitching from the point to the seam line (Fig-6). This can
be noticed in the underarm of the front bodice, back skirt, shoulder, elbow and
back neckline.
Fig-6: Straight dart
4. Neckline dart:
This is usually a solid line marking on the back neckline indicating a straight
dart of 1/8″ (Fig-9).
6. Dart in interfacing:
In this case, a slash is made on the fold line. Then the cut ends are lapped
along the line of stitching and zigzagged to keep in place (Fig-11).
Fig-11:
Dart in interfacing
1. Trace off the front bodice; here the bodice block is made from card, making
tracing easier and more accurate.
2. Cut up the front waist dart and the side seam dart.
Fig-14: Basic dart step-2
3. Close the waist dart, and the side seam dart opens. (Remember not to cut
right through; keep a small amount of paper attached to act as a hinge.)
To continue this exercise, trace off the front bodice block onto paper. Draw in
the lines to the bust point as shown on the diagram. To manipulate the darts,
simply slash to the apex each time and then close and open the darts in
different locations.
Seam allowance is illustrated for each pattern because of the dart’s unique
shape and location (1/4 inch at neck; 1/2 inch at shoulder, armhole, and waist;
and 1/2 to 3/4 inch at side seams).
1. To create asymmetric darts, trace off the bodice block fronts, joining the
right and left sides at the CF(center front). The full bodice is traced off because
the right and left sides are to be different.
Fig-19: Asymmetric darts step-1
2. Cut up both waist and side darts to the apexes. Close the bust dart until its
edges meet. The waist darts will open.
4. First cut along the long line that passes from left to right.
5. Close the right-hand waist dart, and the long dart opens.
Fig-23: Asymmetric darts step-5
6. Cut up the shorter dart and close the left-hand waist dart. The short dart
opens.
Measure the right-hand dart from A to B. Including the dart, the measurement
will be longer from A to C; gather the excess fullness between the notches to
match the shorter side as shown.
Fig-27: Gather dart
This style has gathering located under the bust instead of the dart. First,
repeat the first six steps from ‘Asymmetric darts’, above.
Intersecting Darts:
Intersecting darts resemble asymmetric darts and dart equivalents. The darts
cross center front and intersect with each other. To complete the design, use
basic back pattern.