Friday Fun Fact: Dart Basting

Hey it's Elizabeth and today I'm showing you my favorite method for basting a dart!

This is a great technique for large, long, or curvy darts - any time when just pinning the dart is too unwieldy.

We're starting on the wrong side since that's where you want to have your dart marked.

First we're going to use a gauge to mark every inch on both sides of the dart. These markings have to be parallel.



Thread a needle with a long basting thread. Don't make a knot, just leave a long thread tail.

Sew across the dart from one marking to the other. 

Then work your way up the dart, going from side to side. 

When you get to the point, make a tiny stitch across.

When you're done, you should see alternating stitches going up the dart lines on the wrong side, and stitches that go across on the right side.

Now for the fun part! We're going to pull both ends of the basting thread to fold the dart. 



Grab each end of your basting thread and pull. You'll see the dart start to fold up on itself.

Once your dart is flat and aligned, it's ready to sew on the machine! You can sew right on your dart lines - it's okay if you sew over your basting.



After you sew, pick out any basting that's visible from the right side, then press your dart how you normally would. (I recommend using a ham!)

Check out all our Friday Fun Facts in the archive here!