Chapter 7
Moving the dart
Every number below follows the size you pick.
A bust dart can sit almost anywhere round the bust point and still do the same job. Moving it changes the look, not the fit.
The method
- Trace the front with its shoulder dart and mark the bust point.
- Draw a line from the bust point to where the new dart should open, for example the side seam.
- Cut along the new line up to the bust point, without cutting through it.
- Close the old dart: fold its legs together, pivoting round the bust point. The new line opens by the same angle.
- Tape it down and end the new dart short of the bust point, so it does not finish in a sharp point on the fullest part: about 2.5 cm for a small or average bust, more for a fuller one, up to about 5 cm, and more in jackets and coats.
The angle stays the same. A dart is an angle at the bust point. Wherever it opens, the angle is the same; only the length of its legs changes with the distance to the edge.
The same front, six ways
In the editor, the bodice has a setting for where the dart goes; each of these drawings comes from it.