pattern does not lay flat after closing the dart?

Question

i'm trying to draft a short. after closing the dart, it will not lay flat. i do not want to sew the darts on the short

Answer 1

Unless your bum is as flat as a fritter, you need darts on the backside of the pattern.

Answer 2

The purpose of darts are to add shaping so that the fabric will NOT lay flat - darts allow for real body shapes to wear the shorts. If you do not add darts - the shorts will bag at the waist - there will be too much material there in the back - and/or will not fit over the buttocks -- we all have some shape there. Also, these will be either too full in the front and sides - pleats are often added there to allow for the round tummy women have - and many men as well. The only way to avoid using darts is to use a stretch material - and then it will act more like a body shaper than a piece of comfortable clothing.



Good design for real bodies call for darts at the waist - minimally - in the back to handle the shelf of the derriere - and in the front to make the front lay flat for someone with any kind of tummy. A flat front works only for a limited amount of body types.



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Answer 3

First two answers are spot on. It won't lay flat. It is not supposed to.

Another job of darts are to make something fuller without gathering it. I made a Barbie doll ballgown with 6 darts in the waist of the dress. Barbie's waist is teenie tiny looking, and the dress goes poof at the bottom and stays that way. No bunches of gathering at her waist, the dress bottom stays perfectly round, as if I had put a cage in it.

When you set in dart, and especially with fabric that stretches, you have to be exact with the dart. Pin it profusely, sew it with a steady hand, and check and double check that the marks you made to sew with match up exactly. Elsewise you get a slightly scewed dart that will not do its job. And, it will not lay anyway: straight, flat, or on a curved you.

Use dressmaker's chalk, mark the whole dart. check it. Fold it to prep it for sewing, pin it good, and check it again to make sure it is right. Sew it, take out the pins, and make sure it came out right.

Trim the seams, clip it so it will curve with your curves.

And make sure your seam is straight, Nothing worse than a dart that is rounded at its slim end. It makes a bunch on the fabric, and on you.

Your only other choice, if you do not want to dart the short, is to gather the waistband, and put elastic in it. the shorts will then curve, and will at least bag properly.

Answer 4

I don't think you quite understand the purpose of the dart! yes, of course it will not lay flat -- it is NOT supposed to lay flat.. that is why you are putting in a dart, so that you have a shape in your fabric. I'm sure this was all explained to you in your basic sewing class.

Answer 5

It can't lay flat after a dart is closed... darts shape fabric for roundness. If you don't want a dart, you'll need some sort of dart equivalent to take up the excess -- tucks, pleats, gathers, yoke, elastic....