Sewing Definitions — stitches, seams, quilting and sewing terms from Apparel Search
Darts are folds, tucks coming to a point, sewn into fabric to take in ease and provide shape to a garment. Fabric begins flat and the body is not, so a dart removes a wedge-shaped piece and pulls the edges of that wedge together, creating a shallow cone that gives room where the body curves. A dart has two important properties: its point, the point in the pattern at which the dart aims or converges, and its intake, the amount of fabric taken in or removed, which is determined by the angle the dart subtracts from the pattern.
Although sewing a dart in fabric requires a pointy needle, this has nothing to do with the pointy darts that are thrown at dart boards.
Darts are folds, which are tucks coming to a point, and sewn into fabric to take in ease and provide shape to a garment.
The sewing darts are used frequently in all sorts of clothing to tailor the garment to the wearer's shape. They are often used for a women's bust. The darts on fabric can also be used to make an innovative shape in the garment. Fabric may be thought of as flat, and a dart has the effect of removing a wedge shaped piece and pulling the edges of that wedge together to create a shallow cone. This effect can be seen quite easily with a paper pattern by pulling together the edges of a dart intake as it would be sewn. Since fabric is generally more flexible than paper the fabric will shift around the apex of the cone and form a softer, but still curved, shape. In a garment a dart ends in a point at a full area of the body.
A dart in a flat pattern has two important properties: its point, the point in the pattern at which the dart aims or converges, and the intake, or the amount of fabric taken in or removed. Since the dart can extend toward any edge of the pattern without affecting fit, the length of the dart intake at the edge of the fabric is not a good measure of dart intake. Rather, the angle subtracted from the pattern by the dart is what determines the dart's intake.
Vertical darts are sewn from the bottom of the blouse to a point generally around the bustline. This type of dart may be found in the front, rarely in the back of a garment and are used by the garment maker to pull in the bottom of the blouse towards the wearer's waist.
Bust darts are short triangle folds that provide space for breasts such that the fabric under the breasts isn't hanging, rather is fitting closer to the wearer.
The dart solves the central problem of dressmaking: cloth is two-dimensional and people are three-dimensional. A flat sheet wrapped around a curved form either wrinkles or stands away from it. The dart removes the surplus in a controlled place. Fold the fabric along the dart's centre line, stitch from the wide end at the garment's edge to the point, and the wedge disappears into a seam inside the garment while the surface outside gains a smooth, shallow cone. The effect is easy to see on a paper pattern by pulling the edges of a dart intake together as they would be sewn; fabric, being more flexible than paper, shifts around the apex of the cone and forms a softer but still curved shape.
Because only the angle matters, a dart can be moved. Since a dart can extend toward any edge of the pattern without affecting fit, its length at the fabric edge is not a good measure of its intake; the angle subtracted from the pattern determines the intake. Pattern makers use that freedom constantly, rotating a bust dart from the side seam to the shoulder, the armhole, the neckline or the waist, or converting it into style lines, pleats or gathers used for the same purpose, which are called dart equivalents. The fit stays the same while the look of the garment changes completely, which is why one fitted bodice block can generate a whole wardrobe of designs.
Vertical darts are sewn from the bottom of a blouse toward a point generally around the bustline; they may be found in the front, rarely in the back, and they pull in the bottom of the garment toward the wearer's waist. Waist darts in skirts and trousers perform the same shaping between waist and hip. Bust darts are short triangle folds that provide space for the breasts so that fabric under the bust fits closer rather than hanging. In a garment, a dart always ends in a point at a full area of the body: bust, shoulder blade, hip or elbow, and the stitching must taper to nothing at that point, with the last stitches running off the fold, so no pucker or dimple shows at the apex.
Darts are used frequently in all sorts of clothing to tailor the garment to the wearer's shape, and they can also be worked into style lines or used to make an innovative shape in the garment deliberately, taking in far more than fit requires to create sculptural folds. Good dart sewing is a small discipline of its own: mark both legs and the point accurately, fold on the centre line, pin at right angles, stitch toward the point without backstitching over it, tie or chain off the threads, and press the dart toward the centre of the garment or as the design directs, over a tailor's ham so the cone keeps its curve.
The sewing dart shares nothing but a point with the darts thrown at a dartboard, and sewing it requires a needle rather than a missile. Its importance is out of proportion to its size: a few centimetres of wedge, correctly placed, are the difference between a garment that hangs like a sack and one that follows the body.
A dart is a fold coming to a point, sewn into fabric to take in ease and provide shape. It removes a wedge-shaped piece of fabric and pulls the edges together to create a shallow cone over a curve of the body.
The point is the place in the pattern at which the dart aims or converges, ending at a full area of the body. The intake is the amount of fabric taken in, determined by the angle subtracted from the pattern by the dart.
A bust dart is a short triangular fold that provides space for the bust so the fabric under the bust fits closer to the wearer instead of hanging straight from the bust point.