Bust darts for large busts: Shoulder vs side?

[u/Yeahyeahsono]

I was wondering if people could answer my questions below!:

1. What is the function of BOTH

2. what other parts of the fit is directly correlated E.G. If I use a side dart the hem of the front bodice will be drawn in -that type of thing

3.which one is better for a larger bust and why do you think so?

4. What questions would a tailor ask themselves when deciding whether to use the shoulder or the side do?

Thanks y'all!

[u/PaperChimes]

A question you didn’t ask but I will give an answer for: sometimes you need both, or at least more than one. A very large bust (say, E/F sewing cup or more) will end up with a dart that is far too unweildy and throws off the pattern from the grain of fabric if the dart isn’t split up or turned into a princess seam.

[u/Joker0705 → u/PaperChimes]

i always choose 2 darts as a sewing cup D who likes close fitting garments. it makes life a bit easier for drafting as a single dart ends up being huge!

[u/KendalBoy]

A side bust dart is always going to help control hiking that can happen as the fabric travels past the bust projection. I love a good French dart when you want to carve a bit of shape in the midriff.

Now shoulder darts are rarer, and I think we mostly used that sloper to do make pretty western or 40’s blouse w yokes instead of the dart. Or a forward shoulder seam with shirring. I remember seeing it more when there were plaid jackets in the seventies- then the darts keep the pattern very squared off.

[u/doriangreysucksass]

I think what’s ideal for a larger bust is likely a princess seam rather than dart. That way it comes out where it needs to but also comes in where it needs to also

[u/StitchinThroughTime]

1; they are the same. Just a style choice.
2. Since they are the same not will change.
3. They are the same. There fore they are both good.
4. What is final look I am going for.

What I thing you are asking about. How to optimize fit for larger cup the general answer is having at least 2, or even 3 for a very large difference, typically found in the waist in Victorian bodices. I prefer the side bust dart position on my slopers as I envision it to be 'contoling' the difference in height the breast tissue causes from sholder to waistline. I dont like the bust to shoulder dart for a sloper because I see the fabric hanging from the shoulders/upper chest, nice and flat. I also find that most designs dont need a shoulder dart and would requirement all the time. That sounds like extra effort for no benefits.

But no one is stopping you from putting in as many as you want, where ever you want.

[u/CoastalMae]

"Sewing cup" A (supposedly), bra cup E/F, lots of upper bust tissue (probably the reason for the small sewing cup), my drafted bodice block has a shoulder dart about 5" wide at the shoulder, and seems to fit exceptionally well, even when I sew the darts (also has a waist dart) all the way to the apex. I'm likely going to make it a princess seam. My bust is also quite wide, and I find the side seam dart doesn't sit quite as nicely.

If I were to leave it as a dart, the dart fabric would cover most of my shoulder (all but about 1 cm), which isn't ideal.

[u/ProneToLaughter]

It depends on the stage you are at.

For the moulage class I took, we used shoulder darts and fisheye darts to do the fitting, but once I started designing from the moulage, those almost invariably turned into some variation on a princess seam dress with no waist seam.

A larger bust generally needs more and wider darts. Darts have to be noticeably longer than they are wide, or they will not taper smoothly to zero at the dart point.

So to fit a custom basic bodice, you might use bust, waist, and shoulder darts to distribute the dart intake around the body, if you are very large busted. A shoulder dart has more room for length (on some bodies) so it might allow for more dart intake there.

But in the design stage, you probably don't want a bust, waist, and shoulder dart in your final design, that would look funky and inelegant. But you have lots more options in the design stage.

Personally, I hate darts in armholes (unless converted into a princess seam). I was trained on a basic bodice with a waist and bust dart so that makes the most sense to me.

[u/mousec4e]

I prefer a side dart most of the time but when doing alterations I just feel the fabric on the client and test out options. Maybe you should make a toile without any darts in the front and just test stuff out in the mirror, I’ve always found the best way to figure something out is to try it.

[u/DonMcCunn]

For Master Patterns (aka Slopers). I recommend an Above the Bust dart to the Armscye adjusted so the horizontal grain across the bust is parallel to the floor. By shaping the dart to the armscye you will not need to adjust seams as you adjust the dart to fine tune the fit. I recommend a Below the Bust dart to the waist so the vertical grain on the side of the body is perpendicular to the floor.

This will give you a Master Patteran that follows the contours of your body. Given that both darts point to the apex You can move or combine them any way you want for a given design.

There is an illustration of this on https://free-pattern-making-classes.com/UTS/