How to Use Your Master Pattern to Adapt Elements from a Commercial Pattern

by Gretchen Weaver

My master dress pattern has the following darts for shaping:  bust, fisheve on the front and back, and a shoulder dart in the back.  The commercial pattern is Vogue 8589 Five Easy Pieces and I have chosen the dress.  Differences on the commercial pattern from my Master are a neckline dart, no bust dart and the neckline shape.

I have an intake of 3.25 inches on the master bust dart.  Visually it would be best to split the dart into a neckline dart and a smaller bust dart.  So I did a dart transfer of half the intake to the neckline on my master.  Then I traced the new neckline shape onto the master.  The shoulder seam was considerably shorter on the commercial pattern compared to my master since it has a wide neckline.  So the neckline dart on the back was completely eliminated.

I want to show how to do a dart transfer to the neckline at the April ASG meeting.  Hope to see you there.