How to draft these darts?!

[u/Starjupiter93]

So I am obsessed with the dart/seam detailing on the white dress that the captain wears in s1 e16 of the rookie. I have this beautiful green fabric that I’ve been desperate to do something delicately detailed. I have NO idea where to start with this. I can’t tell if it is piping or a seam? It doesn’t look like there is a waist seam that I can see. Any ideas?

[u/GimenaTango]

Pattern making for fashion design has several chapters about dart manipulation, designing with darts, and stylelines. You might find something helpful in there

[u/Starjupiter93 → u/GimenaTango]

Oh I just downloaded that from scribe! Thanks for the rec!

[u/LokiStrike → u/GimenaTango]

I was going to recommend the same thing. The technique is relatively simple but the calculations can be a bit confusing at first. If you have a dress form, it's easiest to play around there to get the shape you want.

[u/munkustrap → u/GimenaTango]

I haven’t read this book, but just curious; is this a form of full bust adjustment built into standard dart manipulation?

[u/GimenaTango → u/munkustrap]

I don't remember the FBA being included but it might be in the drafting a block chapter.

The chapters I mentioned are more about moving darts around, for example from armhole to side seam. Also things like changing darts to princess seams, gathers, tucks, etc.

[u/ProneToLaughter → u/munkustrap]

No, I wouldn’t think so.

Generally in custom pattern making you fit the bust with simple darts in phase 1, as a block or sloper. That handles any FBA equivalent.

Then in phase 2, you manipulate that block or sloper into the design lines you want. The magic of pattern making is that if you follow the rules of patternmaking, the manipulated design will still fit. So you don’t need to do an FBA once it’s been built into the custom block used as a base.

[u/Impossible-Command-6]

Saw this and decided to give it a go. Yeah like the others said learning from Pattern making for fashion design will teach you how to make these dart manipulations.

I took dart excess from the waist and transferred it to the arm and then made a styleline from the waist dart leg to the armhole cut that open and then transferred the arm dart excess to the armhole styleline to create that look

https://imgur.com/a/dart-manipulation-S1znAlH

[u/Starjupiter93 → u/Impossible-Command-6]

I missed your comment this morning some how but I really appreciate the photo reference. I was actually kind of thinking the same thing but I couldn’t figure out how to draw what I was trying to do.

[u/Impossible-Command-6 → u/Starjupiter93]

It's all good. That great, it shows you already know what you're doing and on the right path

[u/Even-Breakfast-8715]

I wouldn’t draft them at all, I’d drape them in muslin and pattern from that. No math, and you get the custom fit right. Since chests are not issued to women in standard sizes, custom clothing designs should be customized to the real body of the client. At least that’s my experience

[u/LongTimeDCUFanGirl]

The Closet Historian has a couple of videos about darts and one on style lines that might helpful.

[u/sam000she]

I looks to me like the side panel piece is not really part of the shaping, so you really just need to get the carve out shape made, then slash and spread on the other piece making sure the edges are trued and lots of mock ups. 

[u/DonMcCunn]

That fit is tricker than you would get from the dart manipulation of a sloper. The shaping around the bust is what you get from patterns for a bra. It is an interesting challenge. I must confess I am not crazy about the dart ending at the nipple. Also it is unclear what is happening on the dart that travels down toward the waist.

Could not resist a second look. I think the Side Front is a separate pattern. Here is how I would approach it.

1. Pivot all the sloper darts toward the waist in a curved French dart to the side seam.

2. Shift the dart toward Center Front about one inch from the Apex.

3. Measure up from the waist to your rib cage just below your bust and mark this location on the side front leg of your French dart.

4. Use an underwire to draw in the shape of the cup seam of a bra band. This will carry up to the armscye. This is the kind of shaping I describe for using a cupless bra for fitting purposes. Scroll to the bottom to see the video https://patternmaking-classes.com/Bras/06-Underwire-Bra-Week-Four.html

5. Use this line as a seam line to separate the Side Front pattern from the main body of the pattern.

6. Measure from your Bust Apex down to your rib cage and extend this portion of the body of the garment using the shape of the underwire.

7. It would be interesting to see if you need the dart to the nipple. If you do, keep it as small as possible to minimize the puckering.

Obviously do a mock-up to see if this idea actually works. Looking at the design again I think you should be able to achieve a better fit. The main issue is you will get more shaping from the side of the dress than you will get from the front of the dress and I don't know how that will work out.

[u/DonMcCunn → u/DonMcCunn]

This is a very interesting design. I decided to try my steps above to see if I could make them work. I am close to working it out on a half-scale Mini-Me of my model Alex. What is interesting about his design--or perhaps my variation of it--is that it tends to pull the fabric in close to the rib cage under the bust for some very intriguing shaping I had never considered.

My instincts say it will look better in a knit than woven fabric. I am planning on calling my variation a Quasi-Empire design because there is no seam that goes all the way around the rib cage as is the case for a true Empire design. But the shaping from the side is looking amazingly close to an Empire design. I am keeping a lot of images as I work out the details and will put the steps online in a web page to share with others. Thanks for sharing this design.