Dear readers,
Welcome back to my series called Pattern Drafting Theories, where I examine different components of pattern drafting and how I perceive them from paper to real life scenarios, asking questions and proposing solutions. Conclusions of these theories will not necessarily be reached.
The most common questions that pop up when one begins pattern drafting almost always concern Darts and their dimensions or positions. And rightly so, as darts are a very important component of flat pattern drafting and good fitting, second only to taking proper measurements.
What are Darts?
Darts are folds with a pointed end, made in garments to create shape and curves. They are usually used to blend a larger area into a smaller area and vice versa, such as the Bust to the Waist, or the Waist to the Hips. They can also be used decoratively.
Where do you place darts?
In their most basic form, they are placed where needed and most functional. This could be the shoulders, sides, waist, armholes, elbows and so on. However, they could also be placed where they would create the most desired shape or style, with or without functionality in mind. Now, let us examine the common dart positions on the Women's Basic Sloper set in detail.
Dart Positions and Size on a Basic Skirt
A Basic Skirt can have at least 4 - 8 darts placed at the waist line to give the skirt shape with the widest part of the dart at the waist coming to a point at the hips. This can be in the combination of 2 Front - 2 Back, 2 Front- 4 Back, or 4 Front - 4 Back.
Position - Each dart or pair of Darts is allocated a quarter of the waistline and can be along any part of it. Traditionally, centering it is the common position. Personally, I aligned it with the Bust Span to draw the eye along the curves of the body. The important thing to note is that the position is not fixed and can be adjusted as desired for fit or style.
Size - Since the purpose or the darts is to take up the excess fabric and give the skirt shape, the easiest way to determine the size of the dart is to Subtract the Waist measurement from the Hip measurement to get the excess. This excess can now be divided equally or proportionally amongst the number of darts that you want to use. Eg. 40hip - 32waist = 8 (divide 8 into 4 darts)
Regardless of your learning source, be it a book or school, this is the general principle. In my tutorials, I use thirds (See anyone of the Basic Sloper drafts for examples) as I have determined that this results in a good balance of proportions and it works consistently, regardless of the person's size.
Length - The full length of the Dart is ideally from the waistline to the hip line, the two major areas that are affected by the dart. In order to permit some ease, the dart is usually shortened to allow room for the curvature of the abdomen and bottom. The practice is for the front darts to be shorter than the back darts as this tends to work better with the natural anatomy. The length of the dart can be adjusted as needed.
Dart Positions and Size on Basic Trousers
A Basic Trouser can have 4 - 8 darts just like the Skirt above.
Position - Just like a skirt, each dart or pair of Darts is allocated a quarter of the waistline and can be along any part of it. For the Front pieces, centering it along the crease line is the most common position and for the Back pieces, placing it at the centre of the quarter waist is common. In the case of Men Trousers, pleats or tucks are often used instead of darts for the Front for a looser, less feminine cut. Once again the position is not fixed and can be adjusted as desired for fit or style.
Size and length - These are determined in the same way as the skirt above.
Dart Positions and Size on a Basic Bodice
A Basic Bodice is a little more complicated than a skirt or trousers because the focal point or widest area is usually the Bust which is at a relatively central position. This means that all darts have to radiate from the point to the edges. Therefore, there can be multiple darts, positioned at multiple areas.
Position
Front Bodice - It is best to think of the apex (highest point of the bust) as the centre of a circle, with any dart used starting from this point outwards. The number of darts depends on both functionality and style. A curvier shape will usually need more darts to create a smooth contour. For the Basic bodice, I decided on a simple single dart at the waistline (per quarter), as this I felt is the easiest technique for a beginner to master.
Back Bodice - The back is a relatively flat area but it has 2 major areas that must be addressed in terms of contour. The shoulder blades and the waist. The position of the waist dart is as above and comes to a point at the bust line. The position of the shoulder, armhole, neck dart come to a point at the widest part of the back where the shoulder blades lie.
Size - For both the Front and Back Bodice, there are many formulaic ways to determine the size of the darts, but I have found that each position needs a different formula essentially. In the Basic Bodice tutorial I shared, I used the technique of drawing the whole front/back piece and allocating whatever is left to the dart size, this is mostly based on the difference between the bust and upper bust measurement. I find this allows the dart to fit the size of the individual better.
If we are drafting more than one dart per quarter, as I did in the Basic Bodice 2-dart version, it helps to think about the bodice as having 2 sections. Above the apex and below the apex as these are the two major areas that need to be addressed in terms of shaping. For a waist dart, using the difference between the Bust and waist measurements similar to the skirt system above will suffice. For side darts, the difference between the side measurement and side length measured from the model works fine. Shoulder, armhole and neck darts are a little more complicated as I have personally not found a consistent way to determine the best size for these to work with different sizes. This is also one of the failings that I have found in almost all pattern drafting books as they will usually just give a standard measurement without explaining how this measurement is achieved.
For the Back Bodice, the shoulder dart can be pinched out for the excess that will be naturally formed at the armhole after drafting or even sewing, but allocating a minimum dart size of 3/8inch (1cm) to 1/2 inch (1.2cm) can usually do the job.
Fortunately, thanks to dart manipulation you can make other darts from whichever dart you already have, such as the large single waist dart from the Basic Bodice. This saves you the trouble of having to learn how to draft each unique dart position from scratch.
Length - The longest length of any of the darts is from the apex to the exterior of the piece, but they are usually shortened to create room for the natural anatomy and add ease.
Closing thoughts
It will be nice to have a perfect foolproof way to draft darts for any body shape, but I will suggest that it's best to focus on the fact that adjustments can always be made in the end and this is why making a basic sloper is very handy. Thanks for reading and do share your thoughts on the matter.
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