French Darts in Sweaters: Tips for Machine Knitters

A French dart is a long, diagonal dart that typically starts low in the side seam—often near the waist or hip—and angles upward toward the bust point. It helps shape both the bust and waist, creating a more tailored and flattering silhouette.

A knitter recently asked about using French darts instead of traditional horizontal bust darts for a better fit. I immediately agreed—when sewing, French darts are beautiful and often more flattering.

But I had never seriously considered them for knitting.

After a bit of noodling, I realized why we rarely see French darts in knitwear—especially machine knitting.

When machine knitters create bust darts, we use short rows, and these are worked over every other row. It’s a smooth, effective way to add shaping across the bust. For example, to shape a dart, a knitter might hold 3 stitches every other row 6 times. That creates a gentle curve right where it’s needed.

What if you wanted transform the dart to a French Dart?

  The shaping would need to be more gradual and spread over a diagonal line—something like holding 2 stitches every three rows. Unfortunately, that doesn’t align with how short rows work on the machine.

The result would be awkward shaping and likely a messy finish.