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On French Darts and Reinforcing Curved Seams

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French darts - can you resist them? There's something so refined about them! In my dress I love how the bodice darts meet the skirt ones on the sides- and I love even more that I turned the back skirt dart into a continuous semicircular one!




Some tips:
- place the tip of the dart one inch lower than the bust line
- reinforce the seam to prevent stretching
Also check out this blog post for more helpful info! http://thesewingdivas.wordpress.com/2007/06/18/sewing-a-french-dart/

  
        The skirt's waist line will be more curved because of moving its dart in French dart position, so more prone to stretching. It is going to be attached to a straight grain piece - the waistband, so after stitching them together the seam won't stretch like in the case of French darts where both sides that go into the seam are non-straight grain. But the skirt's upper line can stretch before or while attaching the waistband so it's better to take measures.

        You can use stay tape - fusible or not- on the skirt's waist line like in this tutorial about curved seams http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/perfect-curved-seams .

        Or you can straight stitch along the upper edge of the skirt using the largest stitch setting on your sewing machine. Measure and compare with the pattern piece and if it's stretched gather the seam by pulling the upper thread evenly till the measurements coincide. Make knots at each stitch end, attach the skirt to the waistband, then take out the reinforcing seam (optional - if its visible on the outside) by pulling the upper thread from one side.

Do you have any other tips on French darts or reinforcing curved lines? I'd love to learn some new ones and see how you use French darts!

Comments

  1. Ana StepalicaApril 28, 2011 at 4:25 PM

    Great post Magda! I loved seeing your neat seams/darts in close. You have a true gift and you should show it off as often as you can.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 28, 2011 at 11:22 PM

    That's fabulous! I'll have to reread that a few times to "get" it though. I love learning new things! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. magdamagdaApril 29, 2011 at 12:05 AM

    @Ana - thank you so much! Just between the two of us, I am never completely satisfied with myseams/darts... impatience and "head in the clouds" effect get the best of me... sometimes (?!)

    @Karen - more pics would have been nice - always glad to help if I can make my instructions clearer!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sandy AngApril 30, 2011 at 6:52 AM

    Thanks for being so kind about my giftboxes. Hope you have a very happy May !

    ReplyDelete
  5. CarolynMay 2, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    Your work is superb! Thank you so much for showing those closeups... I love details shots too! If you're interested, the Japanese pattern books Pattern Magic also show how to move and manipulate darts in a similar fashion.

    ReplyDelete

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