Threads Contributing Editor Louise Cutting shows how to improve a blouse, shirt, or other top by putting a dart on a slant. For a fuller bust (a C cup or above), a dart that slants upward toward the bust apex is more flattering than one that extends perpendicular from the side seam.

Determine the bust point

Louise demonstrates how to find the bust point, or apex, on the body, and then how to transfer this level to the pattern. This step is essential for a final dart that fits the body properly.

Rotate the dart on a slant

Once the bust apex level is marked on the pattern, you draw the new dart seamline, 2-1/2 inches to 3 inches below the original dart at the side seam. Rotate the old dart closed, and a new dart opens, which extends all the way to the pattern’s bust point. This is not where you want the finshed dart point, however. Louise explains how to determine the correct new dart-point placement, and to draw new dart legs. Finally, she shows how to fold and true the side seam at the base of the new dart.

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Louise is a contributing editor for Threads magazine and has been featured in instructional DVDs, including the popular eight-volume Industry Insider Techniques produced by Threads parent company, the Taunton Press. Louise’s Cutting Line Designs independent pattern company may best be known for offering the One Seam Pants she created; more than 74,000 copies have sold. An internationally known speaker on sewing and design, she has appeared on several television shows including; Sew Much More for HGTV and DIY; and America Sews and Sewing with Martha Pullen for PBS. Her numerous articles and pattern designs have been published in Threads, Sew News, Sew Today, SewStylish, Handwoven, and the former Sew Beautiful magazines. Louise ran the Fashion Design Department at The Art Institute and Prospect Hall College in Fort Lauderdale,…