How to make corrective darts and what is contouring

Welcome to a new pattern making class, in today’s class we are going to learn what corrective darts are and what contouring points are.

In previous classes we already learned how to add volume to our patterns, so today we are going to learn how to remove volume.

To remove volume in certain areas we use corrective darts.

Corrective darts are invisible darts that we make in our patterns to eliminate bags or to prevent our necklines and armholes from getting out of control, among other functions.

To understand how corrective darts work, we are going to make a guide with some of the contour points of the woman’s body.

I am going to teach you how to take the measurements to make the contour guide and its standard measurements, but remember that the measurements change according to the body of each person and what type of bra our model or client is wearing.

Class

Then, we do two different exercises for you to practice what corrective darts are.

The first design we make is a fairly open neckline, where I will teach you how to make the corrective darts invisible.

I have also sewn the first design with and without the corrective darts so that you can understand how it works in a much clearer way.

Then, we will move on to the second exercise, which is a blouse with a cut in the upper part of the chest.

This exercise is perfect for practising corrective darts because you will learn where to add and how to use the corrective darts in a more advanced way.

To finish, and as an extra bonus, I am going to teach you how to sew these types of openings in the middle of the pattern.

In today’s class, I talk about understitching and we use the method you learned in the all-in-one facing class to clean up the neckline and the armhole.

As always, if you have any questions about this class you can send me an email through your user account, in the support section.

Submit your exercises

The best way to learn pattern making is by practising, so for today’s class, I’m going to ask you to do the two exercises we’ve done today.

You can perform the exercises at full size or at half scale.

Try to send me clear photos, where the patterns can be seen correctly and do not forget to put the annotations.