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#1
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men's shirt armscye alteration for very tall
Looking for general advice on sizing up Kwik Sew 3250
(http://www.kwiksew.com/Patterns/P3238_3257/3250.cfm) men's shirt for man with 54 inch chest and overall height of 6 ft. 8 in. This person will not be available for fittings, but seems to be of fairly normal proportions. Where I'm having difficulty is in deciding whether and how to lengthen within the armscye itself, in addition to adding length in the body of the shirt. For the most part, sizing-up to 54-in. chest is not presenting a problem. It's a simple pattern for a casual pullover sport shirt with ease, and the pattern has simple, multi-size cutting lines. According to Kwik-Sew, their men's patterns are sized for a height of 5 ft. 10 in., and my guy is 10 inches taller than that. I'm guessing that about 5 inches overall additional length should be added to the original pattern. How much of that should be in the body below the sleeve and how much in the armscye is a concern. The only "lengthen/shorten here" line on the pattern is below the sleeve. I don't think they were thinking of this kind of alteration when that line was placed. How about 1 1/2 inches in the armscye, and 3 1/2 in the body below the sleeve? I can only guess. Is there a rule of thumb out there? thanks a bunch, Mary Ann Phila |
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#2
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Dear Mary Ann, Just remember that when you alter the armscye, you must also alter the sleeve. A man's shirt has a total of eight inches ease in the chest area. This sounds like a lot, but really isn't, because a shirt is not supposed to fit close to the body. The neck and armscye are the most important places on a man's shirt that have to fit correctly. Another thing to remember when you begin alterations is that the store-bought neck size is not the measurement on the shirt. Your model needs to be measured around the base of his neck, and the measurement divided in half. Then half of the button extension for the front should be added to this measurement. The stand of the collar can be adjusted upward at the center back. Then the collar can be adjusted at the center back to fit to the dot at the true center front of the shirt. This is a very common mistake when adjusting patterns. To adjust the sleeve head, add half of the adjustment to the armscye to each end of the sleeve cap, and taper it to nothing at the elbow. To find the elbow if it is not marked on the pattern, fold the wrist to the bottom of the armscye. The resulting fold across the pattern is the elbow. Teri |
#3
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aeacsharp wrote:
Looking for general advice on sizing up Kwik Sew 3250 (http://www.kwiksew.com/Patterns/P3238_3257/3250.cfm) men's shirt for man with 54 inch chest and overall height of 6 ft. 8 in. This person will not be available for fittings, but seems to be of fairly normal proportions. I have made Kwik Sew 2777 for a 6' 4" man, 18" collar and really really long arms and torso. I did not have to make any alterations to the armscye to fit him, just to the length of the sleeves and body. I realize that your fellow is 4 inches taller than that, but mine was already 6 inches taller than the pattern was drafted for, and it worked out OK. I hope there is a way to check his back length, and sleeve length, that will give you a good idea of the length alterations at any rate. liz young |
#4
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#5
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Dear Sally, When drafting a sleeve for a man's shirt from scratch, the cap is a straight line, which is later slightly curved. It's OK to add to the ends to adjust; it works. Actually, I don't think that the armscye should be adjusted for height, unless the model has extra heavy arms. It makes more sense to add below the armhole for height. Teri |
#6
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#7
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Dear Mary Ann,
I had forgotten this when I responded before. My first shirt was when I was in high school (I'm 67 now). I asked by boyfriend his sleeve length. He told me it was 32. Well, he lifted weights, and had longer than usual arms, so I didn't question him. Apparently my teacher had never made a man's shirt, either, and she proceeded to give me instructions on how to lengthen the sleeve. When it was done, it would have been perfect for a gorilla, but didn't come close to fitting my boyfriend after all that hard work. That's when I learned that men's shirt sleeves are measured from the center back neck to the wrist, then the neck and shoulder measurements are removed. I don't have a clue why they're not measured like women's sleeves, but you can be assured I never made that mistake again!! Teri |
#8
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Be sure to let us know the results of your handiwork.
Emily |
#9
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Well, once again, thank you all for the advice and the pointers. I am
very happy--no, amazed--to report that the shirt pretty much fits. FITS! except for the sleeves, they are an inch too long. the measurement I had been given was 39 inches. Anyway, sleeve shortening on this particular shirt is no problem, it has no cuff. I'll mention this for the benefit of others who may be interested in this now or in the future when they search the Google Usenet Archives -- The shirt pattern (Kwik-Sew 3250) was used to recreate the look of a vintage men's Beau Tiki shirt, circa 1950s and 1960s, and shown in some photographs of Hawaiian musical acts of the period, among them Martin Denny's band. The pattern worked very well for this style, and is easily customized with trim around the sleeves, bottom hem, or neck opening. The shirt was for my "little" brother, a bandleader in the Atlanta area. I'm looking forward to having a photo of the shirt in action on stage sometime. What fun this was! Thanks again to everyone. Mary Ann in Phila. |
#10
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Congratulations, Mary Ann. And thanks for letting us know about the Kwik
Sew pattern. Karen Maslowski in Ohio aeacsharp wrote: Well, once again, thank you all for the advice and the pointers. I am very happy--no, amazed--to report that the shirt pretty much fits. FITS! |
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