Back to basics Part 2: Sewing darts

Who likes sewing darts? Not me!

Ok, if the darts are marked and all I have to do is transfer the markings, sewing darts isn’t too bad, but still, I don’t enjoy it very much. So on any pattern that has darts, the first thing I do is get them sewn. Then I can enjoy sewing the rest of the dress! 😀

I’m sure there are different ways to sew darts but I’ll show you how I do it. I am sewing The Susan dress for my daughter so the darts are in the front and back bodices.

The first thing to do is to transfer the dart markings onto the dress pieces.

Make a slit at each dart line.

Now mark the point of the dart with a fabric pen.

Then make lines from the slits at the bottom to the point using a ruler or straight edge.

Fold the dress piece so that the dart is folded in half, aligning the slits at the bottom and making sure the dart point is at the edge of the fold. Place a pin at the point and pin along the folded edge.

Sew along the marked line starting at the slits and backstitching. When you get to the point continue sewing once the fabric is past the needle. This makes the thread twist together and you don’t need to backstitch. I like to just cut the thread a couple of inches away from the edge of the fabric and leave a “tail”. You can also knot the thread right next to the fabric.

Iron the dart towards the side seam.

Iron again on the right side and the dart is finished! Yay now the rest of the dress will be a breeze! 😄👏