Sew News Magazine--Fit For You - Fine-tune the armhole fit


Fit for You BARBARA WEILAND If you have binding or gaping at the underarm, you may need to fine-tune the armhole fit.

Continued from Page 2 - Armholes That Bind

Gaping Armhole

In most cases a gaping armhole indicates you need a full-bust adjustment. If you've already made that adjustment, eliminate the armhole gap using one of these methods. These adjustments must be made in the pattern tissue before cutting out the garment pieces.
With the tissue pinned together at the shoulder and underarm, remove the pins in the side seam and pin out a dart that eliminates the gap. This shortens the front side seam. Add tissue and reshape the front armhole to match the original pattern shape (8).
add to armhole

Press the dart toward the shoulder after stitching it.
Note: If the dart is very narrow, try eliminating it by pinning it out in the tissue, then taping it in place and ironing it flat at the point. There will be a few wrinkles in the pattern and it might not lie quite flat. However, once cut and sewn, no one will know there should be a dart and it will fit just fine. This strategy only works on narrow darts in looser-fitting styles for cup sizes A to C; larger sizes need a dart for better fit.
If a deep dart is needed to eliminate he gap, but you don't want a dart, consider the following adjustment instead.
Remove the pins in the shoulder seam and shift the front pattern piece toward your center front until the armhole gap disappears. Add tissue to the front pattern piece at the armhole so the shoulder seam matches the back armhole and trim excess at the front neck edge as needed so the shoulders match (9).
add tracing cloth

The center front line may swing toward the hip and need to be straightened. Add tissue to extend and straighten the pattern center front cutting line to meet your center front, and taper it into the tissue front edge. Measure the amount of tissue added to the center front lower edge, then remove the same amount from the front side seam lower edge, tapering back to normal at the underarm (10).
add & remove to straighten center front

If this creates excess tissue in the front neckline, tuck it out across the upper-bust, tapering the tuck to nothing at the armhole seam. Tape the tuck in place and redraw the front edge as needed (11).

Barbara Weiland is a nationally known sewing, crafts and quilting author, editor and consultant. Her latest book is Secrets for Successful Sewing, published by Rodale Press Inc. She also is a contributing author to Serger Secrets from the same publisher.

Page 1 - Armhole Depth | Page 2 - Armholes That Bind |Page 3 - Gaping Armhole
Resources

This and other fitting challenges are covered in depth in the following books, available from our local bookstore or local library.

Fabulous Fit by Judith Rasband;
published by Fairchild Press, 1994.

Fantastic Fit for Every Body
by Gail Grigg Hazen; published by
Rodale Press, 1998.

Fit for Real People by Pati Palmer
and Marta Alto; published by
Palmer/Pletch Inc., 1998.

The Perfect Fit; Published by
Cy DeCrosse Inc., 1987.


	Subscribe More Articles Past Issues