Spent a whole weekend trying to get a sleeve pattern right

I was making a wool coat and the armhole just would not sit flat, it kept bunching up. I redrew that curve maybe fifteen times over two days before I got it. My friend who sews took one look and said, 'You forgot the back armhole is a different shape than the front.' Has anyone else lost days to a simple drafting mistake like that?

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3 Comments

nora5356mo ago

That "different shape" detail is such an easy one to miss. I always have to remind myself to mark the front and back pieces right away. What finally clicked for you to see the problem?

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charlie_roberts876mo ago

Never had that problem, honestly.

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ross.river4mo ago

Wait, is your friend sure you were actually matching up the right seam allowances? Nobody talks about how the shoulder slope changes the whole armhole shape depending on your posture. I had a similar issue with a jacket where I kept getting wrinkles at the back and it turned out my sloper was drafted for a square stand-up posture but I've got rounded shoulders. Trace your actual shoulder line with a friend helping you, that front/back difference might be more about your body than the pattern piece itself.

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