Narrow shoulder adjustment

If you have narrow shoulders, you will need to adjust your pattern. Otherwise, the shoulders will look sloppy, and you’ll end up with extra fabric pooling around the armscyes in the front and back and on your sleeves.

Sounds familiar? We know how to fix it.

1. Adjusting the garment during fitting

Move the armscye seam allowances towards the garment on the front and back. To do this, cut away the excess fabric in the shoulder area, gradually blending into the original armscye towards the bottom. That way, you’ll make the shoulder seam 1 cm (3/8”) shorter. (VikiSews patterns all have 1 cm (3/8”) seam allowances. We explain why in this article).

2. Adjusting the pattern

Take the following measurements:

×          chest width

×          distance between the outside edges of your shoulders in the front

×          back width

×          distance between the outside edges of your shoulders in the back

×          front shoulder slope

×          back shoulder slope

Important! If you have uneven shoulders, take measurements for each of them.

Compare your measurements to the corresponding parts of the pattern and make changes to the pattern. This will work if you adjust the pieces no more than 1–1.5 cm (3/8–5/8”) at the seam line and 1 cm (3/8”) at the back and front width. If the difference between the measurements is more than 1–1.5 cm (3/8-5/8”), consider choosing the other pattern size.

After you’ve made the changes to your pattern, verify:

1. Armscye cohesiveness

Align the back and front pieces along the shoulder seam. The armscye line has to be cohesive and connect smoothly. The intersection of the shoulder seam and armscye seam has to be at a 90-degree angle on both front and back pieces.

2. Armscye length

The armscye length has to stay the same. However, if you’re supposed to ease-in the sleeves, the 0.5–1 cm (just under ¼”–3/8”) length difference is acceptable. Otherwise you will have to adjust the sleeves to fit the new armscye length. For example, you can make the sleeve wider or raise the cap.

May all your clothes fit you perfectly!

Other articles on how to adjust your patterns:

Alya T-shirt Straight Shoulder Adjustment

Adjusting garments with set-in sleeves

Fitting: coat adjustment