Pay careful attention to your pattern instructions when finishing the dart(s); some darts are clipped open and pressed, but most are left unclipped and pressed in a certain direction.   Your pattern instructions will tell you which way to press the darts.  Generally, vertical darts are pressed towards the garment’s center, while horizontal darts are pressed towards the bottom of the garment.

 Some garments have double-pointed darts; these are handled by leaving the threads long and loose at both points and then tying a knot.  A double-pointed dart is usually clipped in the center, so that the wide part will lie flat; your sheet of pattern instructions will illustrate this.  When clipping near any finished seam, be careful not to cut into the seam itself.