Many sewing teachers make a big fat hairy deal out of sewing darts, but darts have honestly never been something that gave me trouble. And yes, I even backstitch at the end (feel free to gasp here.)
My best tip for sewing darts is this:
Before you even start sewing the dart, there should be a straight line from the needle, to the dart tip, to your nose.
In other words, though we tend to place the folded fabric under the needle with the folded edge on a straight guideline,
that will result in having to maneuver the fabric into place during stitching, causing wobbling and probably a last moment scramble to make the needle meet the dart point on the edge of the.
So, when you start to stitch a dart, plan ahead. Place the fabric under the foot like this:
Note the pin placed perpendicularly to the dart point makes it very easy for me to see precisely where the dart should end.
The last few stitches of a dart should be right along the fold of the fabric.
You can backstitch right from the tip in fabric with some umph. In more delicate fabrics, stop at the tip, raise the needle, move it back 1/8" to 1/4" and back stitch there.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Dart Tip
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3 comments:
Thanks for the tip!
Well, I guess the straight line from the dart to the tip of my nose was intuitive. Doesn't everyone sew it that way? Obviously not (LOL) or you wouldn't be showing us. What I found really helpful was the backspacing along the fold. That's an interesting technique I didn't know about. Thanks!
Great tip, Dawn. I always sew my darts folowing a line from the beginning of the dart to the tip. In fact, my darts are usually basted and I'm used to follow the basted thread instead of the edge of the fabric (SAs)
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