Easy but powerful alteration: darts in lower back
In a previous post, I discussed the Asian view of body types and how to flatter the tilted pelvis type. The key being to wear clothing that follows the curve of the back. In that post, I used one of my dresses as an example of what not to do. In parallel, I have been reading and watching tutorials on sewing techniques, in particular alterations. I decided to put the power of darts to work.
For reference, here is the dress before alterations
I went on a trip soon after altering the dress and got multiple compliments on my dress from strangers and coworkers. The non-altered version never got a comment. So other than using my own eyes, I can tell that this is a complete success.
Making darts without a pattern or a dress form takes some experimenting, but this is the method that I followed:
1) I found a skirt with darts that fit well, as well as a fitted shirt, also with darts. If I had had a dress with the perfect darts, I would have used that, but I do not (well, now I do).
2) I used the skirt and the shirt to determine how low on my bum and how high up my back the darts should go, and how spaced they should be.
3) With the dress inside out, I marked the location of the top of the darts and of the bottom of the darts, using the waist as my x axis and the middle back as the y axis.
4) On the waist line, I marked where the darts would cross, by marking points that were at an equal distance from the edge of the dress as the top of the darts were. I joined those two points with the tops and bottom of the darts (see diagram)
4) Next I measured the width of the dress and compared that to half my waist circumference. I took the difference, put 2 cm of ease back in (in other words, if x is the amount of fabric to "remove", x = width of dress - half of waist circumference + 2 cm). I took x and divided it in two. That was to be the maximum width of each dart, which occurs at the waist.
5) I pinched the darts at the waist according to x (x was 2 cm, so when folded down the middle, the folds at the waist for the dart where 1 cm tall) and then continued pinning to near the end points of the darts, tapering off.
6) Finally, I took that to my sewing machine, curving at the ends so my line of stitching ended parallel with the dashed line at both ends. That takes some art and it does not have to be perfect.
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| The dress after alteration |
For reference, here is the dress before alterations
I went on a trip soon after altering the dress and got multiple compliments on my dress from strangers and coworkers. The non-altered version never got a comment. So other than using my own eyes, I can tell that this is a complete success.
Making darts without a pattern or a dress form takes some experimenting, but this is the method that I followed:
1) I found a skirt with darts that fit well, as well as a fitted shirt, also with darts. If I had had a dress with the perfect darts, I would have used that, but I do not (well, now I do).
2) I used the skirt and the shirt to determine how low on my bum and how high up my back the darts should go, and how spaced they should be.
3) With the dress inside out, I marked the location of the top of the darts and of the bottom of the darts, using the waist as my x axis and the middle back as the y axis.
4) On the waist line, I marked where the darts would cross, by marking points that were at an equal distance from the edge of the dress as the top of the darts were. I joined those two points with the tops and bottom of the darts (see diagram)
4) Next I measured the width of the dress and compared that to half my waist circumference. I took the difference, put 2 cm of ease back in (in other words, if x is the amount of fabric to "remove", x = width of dress - half of waist circumference + 2 cm). I took x and divided it in two. That was to be the maximum width of each dart, which occurs at the waist.
5) I pinched the darts at the waist according to x (x was 2 cm, so when folded down the middle, the folds at the waist for the dart where 1 cm tall) and then continued pinning to near the end points of the darts, tapering off.
6) Finally, I took that to my sewing machine, curving at the ends so my line of stitching ended parallel with the dashed line at both ends. That takes some art and it does not have to be perfect.
 |
| The darts on the wrong side. Things did not go as smoothly as described, so there was some repair to be done. The fabric is not the easiest to work with. |
The darts on the right side.
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