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Member since 9/7/11
Posts: 909
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Posted on: 5/24/13 7:11 AM ET
I've been looking at some patterns and I've noticed quite a lot of armhole princess coat and jacket patterns have an extra dart in the centre front panel at the bust apex. What is this dart called (does it have a special name, even?)

Here's a random pattern illustration from Burda to illustrate what I mean:



My intuition is that this dart is intended so that you don't have to ease a heavy coat or suiting fabric around the princess seam curve quite as drastically and so it lies flat to the body at the front. Is that right or does it serve some other purpose?

I have a low, full bust. Obviously the extra dart will need to move downward to match the lower position of the bust apex on my body. However, is the position/size of the dart affected in any other way by an FBA? I use the FFRP method to adjust princess seam bodices, if that makes any difference.
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http://sewingnovice.blogspot.co.uk/
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Member since 12/3/05
Posts: 6572
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Posted on: 5/24/13 8:53 AM ET
In reply to westmoon
I understand that's not called an armhole princess style but rather a side panel style with dart. The side panel seam is placed closer to the sides of a garment than a princess seam would be. Side panel styles are simply a design variation and can be found on many types of jackets and coats. In fact, I'm working on one now for PR's Natural Fibers contest.

I'm not very familar with FBAs, but you will have to adjust the dart to fit your bustline. Page 145 of Sarah Veblen's excellent book Perfect Fitting shows you exactly how to adjust the bust dart of a side panel bodice for a fuller bust. Hope this helps.
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No sewing project is ever a complete success nor a total failure.
  
Member since 9/7/11
Posts: 909
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Posted on: 5/24/13 11:47 AM ET
In reply to nancy2001
Oh! That makes sense! Thank you for that explanation.
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http://sewingnovice.blogspot.co.uk/
One woman. One sewing machine. One giant stack of fabric. What could possibly go wrong?
  
Member since 7/8/11
Posts: 470
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Posted on: 5/24/13 5:31 PM ET
There was a post about just this type of dart on Sherry's blog a little while ago - she refers to them as Dior darts.
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Wendy
Wellington, New Zealand
  
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