Moving Darts - and another hint or two

Pattern - Love Notions Sonata Dress
Skill Level - Confident Beginner
Fabric - Apparel cotton from Fabricland
Skills - Adjusting a pattern

The latest pattern from Love Notions is the Sonata - the perfect dress for summer.  It's flattering, loose and yet semi-fitted with its empire waist, fits sizes XS to XXXL and comes with 4 sleeve options and 4 bodice sizes.

The attractive neckline also has a couple of options:  you can have the facing on the outside for a contrast or face simply on the inside with topstitching on the outside which is how I did mine.

And to give you the best fit - it has darts!  Darts are what give the Sonata its shape.  And just as it's important to match your full bust to a pattern's bust line, it's equally important to make sure the darts fit your unique shape.

The first time I had to move a dart I was pretty nervous!  However after doing a few I feel a lot more confident.  Plus I was surprised at how easy it actually is.  So here are the adjustments I had to make so that my bodice fit my shape.

The first thing I had to do was establish that the bodice was going to be long enough for me.  Love Notions patterns are drafted for an average height of 5'5" and I'm 5'8".  The bodice is supposed to come to about 1" to 2" above the natural waist.  After holding the piece against myself and seeing that I was going need a little more length as well as having to move the bust dart down, I decided I needed to add 1" above the dart.

I placed the pattern piece on my cutting mat, lining it up against a vertical line and taped near the bottom.  Using my rotary cutter and rule, I sliced across the bodice, moved the piece up 1", keeping it lined against that vertical line and taped it to the cutting mat.  Taping it to the mat ensures that my pieces aren't going to move on me.

Then I added added a strip of paper, taped it in and sliced off the extra paper.  I was ready to move the darts.

I held the adjusted front bodice against my body so that it was about 3/8" over the shoulder seam of my top and lined up against the middle of my body.

Using a pencil, I marked my apex - that's the most prominent part of my bust - usually the nipple.

Apex marked, I could now plan out the movement of the darts.  I could see that I was going to have to move the bust dart down about 1.5" and the waist dart would need to be lowered about the same amount and moved slightly to the right.  Tami's clear instructions in her patterns are what gave me the confidence to make my adjustments so I followed her directions.

First I cut a box around the bust dart and moved it down so that it was pointing to my apex and just slightly above it - as it had been to the pattern's apex.  I taped it in place and filled in the open spot with scrap paper.

Now it was time to move the waist dart.  It only needed to be moved slightly to the right but it needed to be lowered 1.5".  First I established the new point and drew legs to that point.

Then I cut out the dart and moved it slightly to the outside filling in the open spot with scrap paper and trimming the edges.

And that's all there is to it!  I now had a bodice front that matched MY shape!  If darts have you concerned, don't be worried.  They're surprisingly simple to move.  And isn't that just the most amazing thing about being able to sew your own clothes?  You finish up with something that fits YOU!

Now another couple of hints to help make your sewing experience as easy as possible. Since I was planning on sewing my facing to the inside of the bodice, I serged around the outside edge of the facing.  After stitching it in place and clipping the curves, I understitched around the neckline - except for the V.  If you're not familiar with understitching, check out the blog post before this which explains it fully.  Understitching makes it so much easier to turn the facing to the back and not have any of it showing.

I used that serging line as my guide for the topstitching.  Lots of pins held the facing in place and I simply did my topstitching from the wrong side in the centre of the serging line.

Love Notions' Sonata is a great pattern to try out these tips.  You'll get a lovely dress that takes you into summer and one that is uniquely adapted for you.  And if you need any further assistance, you know that we are always ready to guide you on the Love Notions Support Group in Facebook. You can get the pattern through my affiliate link below.

Love Notions Sonata Dress

The Cadence - tips and tricks

Pattern - Love Notions' Cadence
Skill Rating - Confident Beginner
Fabric - Fabricland - linen/rayon blend, 100% polyester & light cotton in pictures
Skills - darts, understitching, stitching in the ditch, hemming for slits

Love Notions has done it again!  A lovely, easy dress and shirt for the summer heat that is so quick to make up that it almost rivals the Laundry Day Tee for a fast sew.  And as we've come to expect with Love Notions patterns - options!

There are a few new skills with this pattern, so I thought I'd go through some of them in a little more detail.  You can click on any of the pictures to see them in a larger format.

Darts

The front of the bodice has darts and if you haven't done them before, don't worry - they're not that hard!  The first thing to do is to mark them.

If the fabric I'm using is dark, I'll use tailor's chalk to make the marks and if it's light, a washable fabric marker will work well.  Actually, I didn't have a fabric marker - I used a ballpoint pen since it wouldn't show on the front anyway!  After I make the marks, I draw in the top and bottom of the dart and a line right down the middle to help me make the fold properly.

Then I fold the dart on the centre line and check to make sure my top and bottom lines are together.  I pin it in place using 3 pins to secure it.  I now have a line to follow with my sewing machine.

I start my stitching line at the side and stitch right to the point, removing pins as I go.  The line makes it easy for me to keep my stitching straight.

When I reach the point of the dart, I make sure the needle is down, then lift the presser foot and pivot my fabric right around on the needle so I'm now facing in the opposite direction.

I continue stitching down the fold of the dart for an inch or two and then cut the threads - you can tie them off if you like.  Press your darts down and you're done!

The Facing - Finishing the Raw Edge and Understitching

The Cadence has a facing.  If you're doing the tank version, the facing goes on burrito style and there are clear instructions on how to do this.  I did the sleeved version, so the neck facing gets handled a little differently.

After the front and back facing have been sewn together, it's time to finish off the raw edge.  I serged around the edge just next to the blade so I didn't lose any fabric, but if you don't have a serger, there are basic edge finishing stitches most sewing machines have that will do the job just as well.  I find the middle of the front of both the bodice and facing and mark it with a pin.  The facing goes on right sides together, matching the shoulder seams, centre back and centre front and then is stitched in place with a sewing machine.

I clip the curved seam about every inch or so.  This is an important step as there will not be enough ease in the seam if you don't.

Press the seam towards the facing.  I can't stress enough how important ironing is when sewing.  I'm one of those people who hates ironing, but I never skimp on ironing while sewing.

Now you're ready for understitching.  This serves two purposes.  It makes the facing stay on the inside of the neck giving you a clean sharp finish and it reinforces the seam against fraying.  With the facing on one side (and the seam underneath it) and the bodice on the other, stitch on the facing about 1/8" from the seamline.  Hold the bodice and facing apart as you stitch.  When you're done, give it another good press.  The understitching makes this part easy.  If you're doing the neckline with the vee in the middle, you won't be able to understitch that section.

The Facing - Stitching in the Ditch

We've all dealt with a facing that kept popping out at one time or another.  There's a quick and easy way to stop this from happening.

Pin the facing in place at each shoulder seam.  Make sure your bodice and facing shoulder seams are right on top of each other.  With the right side out, position your sewing machine needle right in the seamline and outside of the facing.  Slowly and carefully stitch down the seamline for an inch or two.    You don't need to stitch to the neckline.  This keeps the facing where it's supposed to be and is barely visible.

You can do the same with the back seam or you can tack it in by hand.  If doing it by hand, grab the end of the facing with your needle and tack it to the edge of the seam.  Now give it another good press and this is done!

The Slit - Hemming

The Cadence includes a shirt length with side slits (which, unfortunately, don't show in the above picture!) I did a blog post on how to prepare pattern pieces for slits with the Allegro Maxi Skirt so you can refer to that for how to serge corners.  I'm going to concentrate here on the hemming process.

The angled top of the facing piece makes it much easier to serge the raw edge.   You can see how the serging is done by clicking the link just above. After you sew your front and back seams together - raw edges serged to finish the pieces, press the seam open, and press the slit openings as well.

There are clear instructions on the pattern tutorial for how to hem the slit.  I approach it from a slightly different angle as I prefer the folded opening on the bottom where it will be less visible.  This method makes it easier for me to ensure that the slits match exactly.  I fold open the slit facings and pin up the hem 1"

Now I fold back the facing - see how it's not even with the bottom of the hem?  Time to make a slight adjustment.

I tuck the offending edge back up and pin it firmly in place.  Then I press the hem well.

Now it's time to put in marker pins to show me where to pivot my needle.  I start with a point 1/2" above the end of the seam and place a pin there.  The angled corners are also marked with a pin.

I also place pins at pivot points where I turn from the hem to the slit and from the slit to the hem.

Now to stitch.  I start at one seam, stitch to the pivot point, then down to the hem, pivot and then on - keeping a little over 3/4" from the edge.  A nice crisp hem, edges of the slit perfectly matching and with the opening of the fold facing down where it can't be seen.

From the inside, it will look like this.

And as it happens, the Cadence blouse (with 3/4 flared sleeve) looks pretty nice over the Allegro Maxi Skirt!  You can get the patterns here:

Love Notions' Cadence - Dress and Shirt
Love Notions' Allegro - Maxi Skirt