Dart

A portion of fabric that is folded or cut out to shape the garment to the body. Darts in the Bodice, Skirt & Pants allow flat fabric to be shaped to cover a three-dimensional body.

Examples

Image 1: The darts on this Bodice Block set have been drawn in red for emphasis. The Front has two darts: one in the side seam and one in the waist.  These darts are shaping the bust and the waist.   Although it is possible to shape the bust/waist with one dart, spreading the dart intake between two darts is more usual.  This is because the larger the dart, the more distorted the shape becomes. The Back also has two darts, one to shape the waist, the other the curve of the shoulder.

Image 2: The darts on this Skirt Block set have been drawn in red for emphasis. In this example, the Front and Back both have two darts to add shape from the hips to the waist. The Skirt Front block can be made with just one dart instead of two.  Where there is a very large measurement difference between the hips and the waist, two darts are usually required or the dart will produce a distorted shape. The Back usually has a longer dart closer to the Center Back and a shorter dart closer to the side seam.