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Member since 6/12/16
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Posted on: 9/1/21 9:56 PM ET
I’m starting over with sewing as nearly an absolute beginner and am having an issue with bust darts. I trace my patterns onto paper first, mark the bust darts on muslin, sew them, rip them out & sew again, and they’re never even! The markings look accurate but it’s like I can’t sew the same angle twice: one looks higher, lower, longer or shorter than the other. My second muslin of a beginner’s blouse pattern has the same issue. It’s beyond frustrating. 😢

My tracing wheel is wobbly but I think it’s my sewing that’s causing the problem, not how I’m marking the fabric. Every wheel I’ve tried from Amazon is also wobbly.

Please help. I just want to successfully sew ONE garment to get over this hump and enjoy being creative again.
  
Member since 3/26/17
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Posted on: 9/1/21 10:20 PM ET
In reply to Alwezonmymind
For me it is critical to double check my markings of the two sides to each other before I sew- I may find that I was off a little, and they have to match before I sew them or they sure won’t after. So after I’ve done my markings, I lay the left and right sides on top each other like when they were cut out, with the fabric’s right sides together so I can see my markings on both pieces of fabric, and pin all the edges together so it looks identical top and bottom. Then I put pins straight down through the top side’s marks to see if they exactly hits the bottom side’s marks. They all should, and if they don’t it’s time to figure out where they went off uneven and fix it first. Don’t sew til they match each other, and match the pattern. You can pin the pattern back on over the top piece to check. Then you can sew.
  
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Posted on: 9/1/21 10:56 PM ET
OMG! I have been struggling with this for several years! Raffey1 has a good solution. I think you should also take a very, very careful look at the way you hold the cloth while sewing, the way you feed the cloth into the machine, the way you guide the cloth on the side or back--do you do all of this exactly the same way for each dart? Does your first dart turn out good and then your second is off? What would happen if you sew one dart and then don't try the second dart until tomorrow? I tend by nature to not be very patient--I have learned through sewing, but still . . .
-- Edited on 9/2/21 at 11:30 AM ET --
  
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Posted on: 9/1/21 11:10 PM ET
In reply to alpenrose
Ok, if you all are having an issue not with the markings, which you have identical, but then the sewing of the darts, you should take five seconds and hand baste them in place, making sure all the markings of the two “ legs” match, again using pins this time through the folded dart to check this , then Machine stitch your basted line. Then they can’t have moved. I like to use rayon thread for this- it breaks easy, is shiny and thin so easy to remove even if you sewed over it.
-- Edited on 9/1/21 at 11:11 PM ET --
  
Member since 3/24/04
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Posted on: 9/2/21 0:04 AM ET
In reply to Alwezonmymind
Question: do they come out "wrong" the same way? i.e.,is the right or left one always lower? If so, it could be that, like most humans, you're not symmetrical. Draw a perfectly level line on the bathroom mirror. Check your shoulders and bust against it.
  
Member since 6/12/16
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Posted on: 9/2/21 0:44 AM ET
In reply to Raffey1
Thanks! Will try this.
  
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Posted on: 9/2/21 0:46 AM ET
In reply to alpenrose
Great ideas…thank you!
  
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Posted on: 9/2/21 0:48 AM ET
In reply to Raffey1
This sounds like a really good idea…thanks!
  
Member since 6/12/16
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Posted on: 9/2/21 0:48 AM ET
In reply to Raffey1
This sounds like a really good idea…thanks!
  
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Posted on: 9/2/21 1:02 AM ET
In reply to kayl
They might be the same both times. But I am absolutely not symmetrical! My left shoulder is higher and my head pulls to the left from dystonia. You may have solved the issue!!
  
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