Getting Daring

Hi Dwight,

If you are getting tension across the back because you have broad
shoulders, please remember that you have to add length as well as
width to get over those muscles. This is something that some of us can
see for ourselves as the same fitting problem is in the front. You
might need the assistance of somebody local who does tailoring and
knows these tricks.

First, make sure that the neck and shoulder are perfectly fitted. Big
shoulders require the addition of fullness at the outer edge of front
and back shoulder line, tapering to nothing at the neck. In your
case, one of the lines might taper and one might be parallel to the
original shoulder line. Do this at the real shoulder line, NOT the
yoke seamline.

Then try adding a quarter to half inch to the bottom of the yoke, in
the back only, so that the armholes are riding a little lower.

You will also have to add to the top of the sleeve. This is an area
that makes the strain worse unless the cap is the right shape. In
your case, I would draw out from the back half of the sleeve but
tapering so that there is a sliver added to the front side over the
top of the shoulder. I would add as much fullness as you can ease
into the seam, you will still be able to flat fell it, but this is the
area that needs to be enlarged to take its share of the stress.

This will of course require a test or two. Do all your fitting on a
pattern with the real shoulder seam, and draft the yoke at the end, it
probably will only take one pass of testing.

OK, now the slightly silly story: the D-ex-H was such a gorilla that
the best fit came from the Missouri River Boatmen's shirt (of which he
got 40+). After the divorce, he had the balls to present me (at a
picnic) with his latest floozie's "improvements" to the shoulder
area--she had edited out the gathers at the top of the sleeve. I
asked him to test the shirt as he had tested mine, and he proceeded to
swing his arm and tear the fabric right out in both directions. I
smiled and said "there was a reason for that fullness" and walked
away...

Good luck with the fitting--Irene


"duh who" wrote in message ...
I've been fooling around with extending the yoke on some shirts because I
thought it looked "sportier". However, I have a tendency to get some
tension across the backs of my shirts because I have broad shoulders,
extended yoke or not. I decide to go another route.

"Irene" wrote in message
om...
Hi Dwight,

If you are getting tension across the back because you have broad
shoulders, please remember that you have to add length as well as
width to get over those muscles. This is something that some of us can
see for ourselves as the same fitting problem is in the front. You
might need the assistance of somebody local who does tailoring and
knows these tricks.

You gave me a LOT to think about here and visualize. I'll save it and refer
to it and try to absorb it.