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So, I was reading the Amy Butler Lotus Cami pattern and was surprised to see that she says to back-stitch at each end of the darts. I'm used to the sewing patterns from the Big 4, which direct you to leave a tail and hand tie a knot at each end of the darts.
How about you? How do you begin and end your darts? Do you do the knot tying bit? Do you think it matters?
17 comments:
I back stitch too at the end of the darts. i have never left a tail and hand tied a knot in my garments. Didn't learn to do it that way. And I have no idea whether or not it matters. I can't imagine it does, actually..
I tie a knot in the end. I don't know if it matters are not. I've just accepted that's the way to do it without question.
I reduce the stitch length down to 1 for a few stitches. No need to back-stitch, which is messy, and no need to tie a knot, which requires attention to detail.
For me it depends on the size of the dart. The little ones I like to tie and the bigger ones I'll back stitch up the fold. There isn't enough fold to go up the smaller ones. It's important not to hook the smaller end so you don't end up with points. To keep this from happening get as close to the fold of the fabric as you can and don't hook it. And it can only be one stitch that makes the dart point out.
There is a video on threads magazine's website that has a great trick. Basically, sew your dart as normal (I reduce the stitch length at the end.) Sew off the edge, then lift your presser foot, and position your fabric so that the needle in over the body of the dart you just sewed. Take a few stitches to tie off your threads. You have to be sure to leave enough slack in the thread so it doesn't pull, but it's so much faster than tying and doesn't make pointy darts.
I have always just tied knots in the ends.
I almost always tie knots, with the exceptions of home dec, purses, etc. For garments, I always tie. Backstitching in thick fabrics is probably just fine, but if you're using thinner fabrics (let's say silk charmeuse), you don't want the bulk of several lines of stitching in one place at the end of a dart. It doesn't press well and can distort the dart. I always reduce stitch length for 1" from the point of dart down the legs toward the end, then switch to the regular stitch length to finish the dart. Then tie and clip, of course.
I'm always on the lookout to make my dart points look better! I'm w/Summerset; I reduce the stitch length for about 1/2" before the point and stitch straight off the end, then tie the tails and run 'em back through the fold of the dart, then trim. Yeah, it's a bit of a pain, but it's the nicest and most permanent (it ain't pretty if that point starts pulling out!) finish that I've found yet.
(Blogger apparently lost this the first time...trying again...)
I just re-read Summerset's comment and realized that she probably starts at the point and goes to the wide end. I'll do that, too, on a stretchy or unstable fabric, but usually I'll start at the wide end and sew off the point.
It depends on the fabric for me-- for bulkier things I'll usually backstitch, and for fine or sheer fabrics I'll tie.
To prevent a dimple at the dart's point I reduce the stitch length near the end and stitch all the way off, using paper under fine or thin fabrics. I then either tie or take a few stitches in the dart body like Jessica. I learned this from my Mom who was a home economics teacher.
I never backstitch. I start and end my darts with a reduced stitch of about 1 or 1.2 for about the 1/2" or so and leave a tail. Sometimes I tie a knot sometimes I don't!
sometimes i tie, sometimes i backstitch, but not along my previous stitching, i do it up the fold. depends on the fabric.
double ended darts get started in the center, with no backstitching. when i go to stitch the second half, i stitch over my previous stitching for about 1/2". did that make sense?
I always back stitch at the beginning and the end of a dart; but just this morning I was reading (when I should have been getting ready for work) Roberta Carr's couture book and it mentioned starting and ending darts with very small stitching and using regular stitches in between. I know what she suggest is much better, but I guess I back stitch out of habit. I've never trusted myself with tying the ends.
I stitch past the end of the dart, then I do a few stitches along the fold of the dart, and stitch off the end of that.
Haha...I don't stitch TO my points, I do the reverse.
Yes, I know this is totally the wrong way to sew a dart. Yes, I know why you really don't want to do this. Yet, I never have darted like the books tell you to. Probably something I picked up when I learned to sew, which I did everything backwards anyway, but I have pretty, flat darts in the end.
I do all of it really: start off the fabric, move onto them, back stitch once, then go on, back stitch at widest part. Tie knot in pointy end. May/may not slash open.
Frankly, as long as they lay flat, I could care less how they get that way. I am more fussy and weird about getting them marked in the first place.
For many years than I can remember, I sew to the point of the dart, off the edge and lift the presser foot. I pull the piece forward a tiny bit to pull some extra thread and then reset the needle back about 1/2" from the tip of the dart and stitch 3 or 4 stitches and clip. I no longer ever tie off darts. This is fast and even if the tip of the dart wants to relax a bit, it won't come out.
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