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Member since 5/11/14
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Posted on: 9/23/14 8:13 AM ET
Hello
I'm hoping you can help me with my silly fitting problem. I'm making a sleeveless dress and made a quick muslin. It seems to fit alright mostly, except for the armholes which are way tight - rather more so in the front. It feels and looks fine in the back but in the front it digs into my armpit fat and makes that unsightly pit-muffin, not to mention it's uncomfortable. I measured the armhole circumference and depth of the dress as and both are too small/short compared to my measurements - difference of depth is about 1" and armhole circ lacks some 2". I had this same problem with another sleeveless top I made.

I already dropped the armhole 1/2" which I'm not sure is helping. So I cut from armhole to bust point and it opened up by about 1,5" which removes the tightness and lets it skim nicely. There's 2 problems with this "fix". It shifts the whole bodice towards the back obviously, and I have no idea how to transfer it to paper. Could I rotate width from the bust/waist darts into the armhole or am I way off..?

I'm not sure I can even describe this problem properly :/ I hope it makes any sense. This seems like the opposite of the armhole gaping problem bustier ladies have. Should I abandon the slash/spread armhole theory and just drop the armhole even more? I have little to no idea what I'm doing, I've never been able to crack my fit problems when I've tried before.
  
Member since 2/11/10
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Posted on: 9/23/14 11:08 AM ET
Somebody help her because both my daughter and I have had this problem and I don't know exactly what is causing it either:)
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atymonw
www.collectedyarns.blogspot.com
Singer 401A/Singer 301/Singer 348/Kenmore 1030/Brother 1034D
  
Member since 7/10/06
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Posted on: 9/23/14 5:28 PM ET
I can't quite picture why this would shift the bodice to the back. Does the shoulder seam move when you do this?

Instead of adding a wedge from armhole to bust point, what if you added a wedge at the side seam, from parallel to the bust to the armhole?
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Member since 5/11/14
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Posted on: 9/23/14 6:26 PM ET
In reply to LauraTS
Yes, the shoulder seam does move back, but not by too much (less than 1/2"). I think I can get around that problem if I can figure out how to transfer the adjustment to paper, if this is even an adjustment one should be doing.

Thanks for the idea! That sounds like it might work better.
  
Member since 4/20/08
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Posted on: 9/23/14 6:43 PM ET
I have this same problem. Something I found that helps is to add a bit more to the side seams at the underarm area. If the back feels and looks good, perhaps just add a bit to the front bodice seam.
  
Member since 2/12/06
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Posted on: 9/23/14 10:22 PM ET
In reply to gudrunrs
Quote:
the front it digs into my armpit fat and makes that unsightly pit-muffin


I've had the same problem with sleeveless tops. The solution for me is to reshape the lower front armhole by cutting it in more so it has more of an inward curve. Part of that is from a pattern that's not drafted right and some, for me anyway, is from a forward shoulder.

Although this post is about sleeve drafting it does have a good pic of the front and back armholes and the differences in the curved areas. I find a lot of patterns have almost similar front and backs and they shouldn't be. Half way down the page where the red arrow points to the front armhole is where I have to curve inward.

How much can be trial and error. I mark the area where it 's binding. If it's really binding I'll start with removing 1/2". The easiest way to do it is to place the pattern tissue back on the fabric and pivot the ss forward 1/2". Trace/cut the new line and it will be automatically blended.

Forgot the link above-
here

Debbie


-- Edited on Today at 8:50 AM --
  
Member since 12/28/04
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Posted on: 9/24/14 8:41 AM ET
In reply to gudrunrs
This is a common problem. Just scoop out the front armhole where is is binding a small amount at a time, like a 1/4", until it fits comfortably. Make sure that you change any facings to match the new armhole.
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Member since 9/1/10
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Posted on: 9/24/14 9:38 AM ET
Ok I'm going to state the obvious here but since you said you were working on a muslin, have you accounted for the seam/hem allowance in the armhole? I would make sure that's taken into account before you start shaving away so you don't end up being too exposed in that area once the armhole is finished.
  
Member since 10/8/10
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Posted on: 9/24/14 9:53 AM ET
A good way of measuring is to put a folded news-paper under your arm (parallel to the floor and let someone bend it to your centreback and measure up to the base of the neck.
That way you can measure if the armhole is in the good place
  
Member since 2/11/10
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Posted on: 9/24/14 10:28 AM ET
In reply to simplystitches
Wow! What a helpful and informative link. Thanks so much!
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atymonw
www.collectedyarns.blogspot.com
Singer 401A/Singer 301/Singer 348/Kenmore 1030/Brother 1034D
  
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