Oh wait… my bust dart is actually facing down ward. Playing with it more, I need to redraft
What do you mean facing down? It looks right to me.
So I ended up just throwing caution to the wind and giving the FBA I drafted a try!
See picture. It is kind of pointing down but in reality will have horizontal
I definitely cut the right size for the top…
BUT! got a little over zealous with the size of the dart…
The neck and arms fit great!
1 Like
The BOTTOM of the dart is where the seam ends up, and it’s horizontal. The dart, when finished, will be parallel to your hem.
1 Like
Love the fabric. Good to see you’re making progress.
1 Like
Oh wait! I think I got that backwards… I think my dart needs to be BIGGER! 
It looks like you’ve got extra fabric at center front. Try pinning that CF seam/flange thingy to take up more fabric and see if that helps. You’d have to recut the neckline, if course.
The dart should stop a little shy of your bustpoint (the pointiest part of your breast).
1 Like
Ooooohhh! Good suggestion. This pattern can be cut with or without that pleat but hadn’t thought to make it bigger…
Oh, yeah, pleat. That’s the word I was looking for!
Yes, the bottom line of the dart will look parallel with the hem line once sewn. Going too big can end up with quite a sharp point at the end of the dart that may stick out in a pronounced sort of way, you can split the difference in other areas of the garment if possible (like another dart). You can also sew the dart seam on a curve rather than straight. And finally, this works best with natural fiber, you can enhance the curve of the seam by pressing with steam on a pressing form which is easy to make yourself.
For reference, here is another simple princess seam video that is very simple and easy to follow.
Soooo part of my problem was misreading my measuring tape. My bust difference is FIVE inches not SEVEN! No wonder I had sooo much extra fabric!!
Attempt number 2 stuck together today and it has a couple of quirks but mostly because I screwed up the dart ends… oops.
I’ll have to make this top in a flowy fabric. This shirting style cotton is way too stiff so I look like I have a very thick middle…
Thank you all for your help! I’ll post photos when I finish the neck, arms and waist!
1 Like
Booby quirks fixed and everything all finished off. Now to figure out how to make my own bias tape so I can make a few more from some of the cute fabrics I have.
3 Likes
Looks great
1 Like