April 11, 2012

T-shirt pattern quest pt. 6 : How to correct the fit of the armhole of a fitted t-shirt

I created some drawings to further explain the armhole problem on my t-shirt pattern. Nearly all drafting instructions that I've seen for t-shirts are pretty much the same. First you enlarge the armhole and drop the shoulder. Then the front and back bodice are traced off with identical bodice shaping and armhole shaping. The only difference might be the neck. If you lay the pattern pieces on top of each other, you will get something like this.

Typical t-shirt pattern shaping
This kind of pattern works ok for a boxy, loose fitting t-shirt. If you want a more fitted t-shirt, then it simply won't work. In my case, the symmetrical armholes caused the front of the shirt to be pulled toward the back. The closer the fit, the less symmetry in general. When you look at the human body, you can see there is no symmetry between the front and back so patterns should reflect this. (Most people are not truly symmetrical left to right either). Children generally are more symmetrical than adults and the patterns for them reflect this. But, even there, the more fitted the style, the less symmetry though the differences are smaller. Anyway, the patterns above resulted in a fit that looked like below. The red arrows help emphasize the shape and length differences of the front and back armholes.

Fitted t-shirt with symmetric front and back pieces
To correct this problem, I needed to lengthen the back armhole. I compared the armhole of my blouse pattern, which was not symmetrical, to the t-shirt armhole to determine how much longer it should be. Slash and spread and the pattern should look like something below.
Pattern adjustment for a fitted t-shirt
 With a result that looks much improved.
The proper fit for a close-fitting t-shirt
The next thing on my list is to make adjustments for front versus back body width.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for explaining this. I would LOVE to get rid of those wrinkles. They drive me nuts.

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  2. Anonymous12:06 PM

    Hi
    I also make the front 1/4 wider than the back on the pattern pieces you drew. Drop CF 3/8 to 1/2 at the hemline. This is for the bust . Lastly move the back shoulder 1/4 toward the side seam. This is to allow the roll over of back panel over the shoulder to meet up with front panel.

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  3. Measure your front body at bust level. Next, measure your back body at bust level. Compare. It will tell you how much to make the front (or back) bigger than the back (or front depending on the shape of your body). Simply knowing the overall 'bust measurement' is rather meaningless. You need to know how it is distributed on your particular body. Posture is a large component of this.

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