Sewing darts in sheer fabrics using bobbin thread

For my silk sheer blouse Peter Pan blouse I was unsure on how to make darts look good in a sheer fabric. My reader Raquel suggested I use a technique called one stitch darts or continuous thread darts. The trick is to sew the dart with thread from the bobbin which eliminates the need for back stitching or knots at the point of the dart, thus will create very smooth looking darts even in sheer fabrics.

Raquel also directed me to an excellent video tutorial by FashionSewingBlogTV
on how to do this: The bobbin stitch tutorial (you must check this one out if you want to sew darts in sheer fabrics!)

The Reader’s Digest sewing book also has instructions on how to make a continuous thread dart if you happen to own that book.

Anyways, I thought I would give you a quick pictorial showing the basics of this technique and also add some thoughts on how this method worked for me.

1. Thread the bobbin thread in the needle

2. Attach the upper thread with the bobbin thread using a knot

3. Wind up the bobbin thread

The knot will go all way to the thread spool. You will only sew with the bobbin thread, so make sure you have enough thread.

4. Start sewing at the point of the dart

Make sure the needle will hit the edge of the fabric and that you have no surplus thread. This was the part that I found most difficult and I did about three samples before I felt ready to sew the darts on the blouse,

5. The finished dart

As you can see there is only thread from the bobbin (the red thread).
The stitches could be a bit better looking though because it’s time to service my machine.

Some final thoughts on the one stitch dart

All in all this is a great technique, but at least for me it will take more practice before I fully master it. Also since one sews from the bobbin you will have to completely re-thread the machine after each dart (at least that’s how it was for me), which makes it a bit cumbersome if you have plenty of darts to sew.  I’ve only tried this for bust darts, I guess you could do this for waist darts too, just make sure you have winded up enough thread for the entire dart!