Im using the Pinhead Pattern, and I have the head and body all together, and am pretty happy with how it turned out, but the darts look like bumps. I cant really get them flat now, even with the foam head inside. Im a beginner in every sense of the word, so needing to sew better is a given, but I was curious if there is a trick to it. I followed the pattern pretty close.

I looked at some of the Project Puppet Gallery pics of puppets made from the same pattern, and they dont seem to show at all.

Off the top of my head I can't think of any tricks really to sewing in a dart. These are the darts in their pattern right?

Can you take a picture of one of the darts with the fabric inside out?  I might be able to spot something you did that I would not have expected.

This may help you some. http://www.coletterie.com/tutorials-tips-tricks/tutorial-sewing-darts

It could be you have too much seam allowance at the tip of the dart.

Here is a video showing someone sewing in a dart.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?E8TseXUFMLY" target="youtube">YouTube Video</a>

Awesome, thanks for the links! Here is what mine look like.

Well your darts look ok to me from the inside really. In a garment sometimes ironing open the seam allowance on a dart helps but with fleece or even fur you can't really do that.  What you can do is kind of work the seam with fingers... man how can I explain this.   For me it is the tip of the dart that sometimes bumps or bubbles and if you work your fingers up and down the seam it can often soften it. Don't forget that also that pulling the fabric tight over your foam base and then picking out the seams should help also.

Thanks Shawn, I think the tip is the part that is looking a bit too prominent. This is puppet 1 of about 6 that have been foolishly promised to my kids , nieces and nephews. So I will spend more time on them with each successive project.

The only thing I can think of is when you start sewing the dart from the widest end to the point the progression to the point needs to be gradual.  Almost running parallel to the fabric at the end.  I'm away from my machine at the moment but I'll try to take a photo of what I mean.

Julie

Starting at wide end I sew gradually on a gentle curve until I sew off the fabric at the point. With fleese that has more nap or fuz you can gently pick out the fibers stuck in the seam on the topside with a pin. A stiff hair brush could do that too. But if your hair will cover it eventually, it doesn't really matter what the dart looks like. If you have knit fabric that does not ravel you can trim it quite close to seam within 1/8th inch, to cut down on the bulk and the stretch of fabric will help round it out too.  I stretch my fabic quite hard over the foam base, putting my fist inside the foam head and stretching fabric with my other hand down over the foam. You could practise on some scraps to get a feel for what you like best.

With all of my project puppet patterns i always hand sew the head seams with the baseball stitch they have up on their website. i've found that this means there aren't any bumps in the skin because of the seam allowance and it also allows me to kind of pick the fleece in the seams out with a needle to cover them up more. It's a lot more tedious, of course, but in my opinion it's one extra step that makes the puppet look that much better.

I agree with Julie. We were also taught in sewing classes (oh so many years ago)... not to back stitch darts, but to hand tie the threads. This makes them flatter.