I'm making View A, the short one, from stretch denim. I was cutting the pattern today and I noticed something that always bothers me. You know the dots that mark the darts? They are never in the logical places, have you noticed that? Okay, they are in one logical place: the endpoint of the dart. But other than that, they seem to be randomly distributed. Here's an example. I placed the pattern piece on my cutting mat. The dart is one inch wide at the waist, and three inches down, it starts a straight line taper to the point. But where are the marking dots? Not at the beginning of the taper. They are about 3/4 of an inch down.
Okay, I know - you're supposed to mark the entire dart, either thread traced or with chalk. I do that with couture garments, but the placement of those dots still bothers me. It's just not logical, Mister Spock. Especially with darts whose legs are straight lines, doesn't it make more sense to have them at the points where the angle of the lines changes? Or maybe that's just the math major in me. Here's the curved dart on the back of the skirt:
Again, the dot placement doesn't make sense. There are dots at the seamline. Okay, I get that, though I don't usually use them. I make snips at the edge of the seam allowance and go from there. But this dart curves out, and there are no dots at the fullest part of the curve. I find that very annoying. It seems to be a Big 4 "thing', but maybe other pattern companies do it. Me? I say to heck with the pattern's markings and put my tailor tacks where they make the most sense for my purposes. It's a minor nit, perhaps, but it's another one of those annoyances that might make life for a beginner harder, and it's something that is so easy to remedy.Anyway, back to it tomorrow. Happy sewing!
14 comments:
I've wondered about the dart thing, too-- I thought that surely I was missing something relevant here. Thanks! I feel validated now. :)
I agree. Also, I've found numerous erros in patterns. So many that I measure every seam now before cutting. I've found collars that don't match necklines, side seams that aren't the same length, etc. Grrrr.
Gwen
I have to admit I don't pay much attention to the dart dots. I just trace the dart legs and then pin together.
Glad to know someone else notices the "illogical" in some commercial patterns! For too long, I assumed I was wrong and they were right, but not any more!
Another big error I have encountered at least twice is facings, esp. neck, not being the same size as the bodice.
I guess I just didn't pay that much attention. Anyway, I made this skirt last year and it really is nice. Two comments: you DO need the carriers, you may be tempted not to add them, but you'll regret it. And you might think about some boning in waist band. I didn't, but I think it would fit better if I had. I also lined mine, but I line everything. I really like the skirt and my make another.
lol - you're right! Soooo annoying - I'd love to hear a justification from the pattern-makers for this strange convention!
I was blissfully unaware of misplaced dots until you pointed them out. Gee, thanks. Has it always been thus? I don't remember struggling with misplaced dots when I was learning to sew back in olden times. Now I just ignore most the pattern companies' doodles. What are you trying to do? Get the dot-makers laid off?
Maybe they figure the user will "fudge" this area due to body variations. Maybe only make the widest point of the dart the width of the dots? Who knows. Having an intuitive brain rather than a logical one, I never really noticed LOL. That's probably why I like the concept of draping more than flat pattern alterations.
Hi :)
When you do a lot of patterns you notice garbage in garbage out. There are so many mistakes in them it makes it hard for a beginner to learn.
Lovin' your blog!
I can't wait to see how this turns out. I traced off that pattern, extended it up a few inches and added half an empire-seam blouse pattern to make a shirt-dress (before Simplicity came out with their version)...but I haven't had time to sew it up for months!
Yeah, they seem to do things by rote, never actually thinking about why. It's like the stupid directions for knits in the big 4.
I walk all my seams before I cut. I make lots of changes usually, so I like to check. But, even when I haven't changed anything I have found issues. Facings in particular are not cut the way I would want them to be.
I guess I never thought about it either. Now I am trying to figure out why it is a problem. I just trace & pin them. I will have to pay more attention.
mccall's pattern, I haven't had a mccall's pattern yet that hasn't had mistakes in it. I've been sewing for 50 years and it has been a constant.
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