Armscye Princess seams Sway Back and Very Erect Posture 1 Viewed from the side, the poof of
fabric at the mid-back indicates excess back length compared to the client’s build. Note the client’s sway back and very erect posture, which often occur together.
2 The folds of fabric viewed from the back. These folds usually form around and accentuate any fleshy areas. The drag line below the HBL from the side going to the buttock indicate that there might not be enough circumference in the garment at the hip. It may help to release the seam over the tight part of the buttock; however, bringing the HBL to a level position often alleviates the tightness over the hip and buttock.
3 Experiment to find the best location to take a tuck or close-wedge to bring the HBL to a level position.
Taking a tuck just above the HBL produces better results to my eye.
This length alteration must be resolved on the adjoining pattern pieces as well.
4 Viewed from the side: a tuck across the center back, a close-wedge on the side back, with the close-wedge continuing into bust shaping at the front.
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5 Note the gaping at the back armhole. Also note the folds of fabric on the side back between the armhole and the HBL. Because these two problem areas occur directly above and below one another, it’s likely that getting a good fit in both areas will be interconnected.
Experiment to find the best solution.
6 You could take out all of the excess along the shoulder seam, which to my eye accentuates the client’s sloping shoulders.
7 You could use a shoulder pad, or you could use a combination of shoulder pads and adjusting the shoulder seam, as seen here.
Although these adjustments address the excess in the back armhole itself, none of the solutions address the way the fabric is collapsing and folding a few inches (cm) above the HBL on the sides.
8 The folds below the armhole can be addressed in different ways.
On the client’s right, I have pinned a close-wedge in the side back panel, starting at the armhole and going to nothing at the princess seam. This alleviates the problem to some degree. On the client’s left, I have released the shoulder seam.
Then, starting where the large fold of fabric is underneath the arm on the side, I have smoothed the fabric upward with my hand. When draping the fabric in this way, let the fabric guide you and tell you what needs to happen. Here, as I pushed the excess fabric upward and smoothed it across the back armhole, the excess fabric got transferred to the mid-shoulder, naturally forming a dart.
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9 Pin the dart. If you do not like the look of a shoulder dart in conjunction with the armscye princess seams, you could move the dart into the neckline by either draping or pattern manipulation.
10 Now that the overall proportion of the back length is better, adjust the back princess seams, taking in excess and letting out at the fullest part of the hip. In order to fine-tune the garment, I made three more mock-ups.
1 With prominent shoulder blades, there is often excess fabric in the back armholes, as seen here. Note the vertical folds of fabric in the mid-back, indicating too much width in the garment.
2 As described on page 120, this client’s rounded upper back requires lengthening the upper back of the garment. Note the gaping armhole and excess fabric on the side back.
Prior to fitting the armhole and side back, bring the HBL to a level position. I have also pinned out the excess fabric below the HBL along the princess seams.
3 The excess at the back armhole occurs where the princess seam intersects the armhole. Although pinning out the excess fabric equally on both sides of the princess seam improves the fit, it creates awkward pattern-making problems, discussed on page 166.
Prominent Shoulder Blades and Gaping Armholes
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4 Pinning out the excess on just the side back panel also improves the fit, but it also results in difficult pattern-making problems similar to the ones described in the previous step.
5 Taking a close-wedge in the side panel starting at the armhole and going to nothing at the princess seam produces a better fit, and the pattern work is very straightforward.
6 The second mock-up back, with adjustments to the shoulder darts, which form in the pattern work when lengthening the upper back in step 2.
7 Note the client’s hollow upper back, which often occurs between prominent shoulder blades.
8 Do not overfit a hollow back, which will restrict the client’s ability to reach her arms forward when there is a sleeve in the garment. The fabric needs to float over the hollow in the back as shown in step 7.
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Fitting the Back with shoulder Princess seams Back Proportion with Placement of Princess Seams
Wide Upper Back and Narrow Small of the Back 1 Note that the cut edge of the fabric at the back armhole
is approximately where the back armhole seam would fall, indicating that the garment isn’t wide enough across the back. Also note the slight strain between the shoulder blades.
1 Experiment where to remove the excess fabric, which affects the placement of the princess seams. Taking all of the excess fabric from the side princess seam makes the sides of the body look disproportionately small in relation to the center back.
2 Taking all of the excess fabric from the center back princess seam makes the center of the back look disproportionately small.
3 Taking the excess fabric equally from each side of the princess seam produces the proportion that is best to my eye.
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2 Releasing the back princess seams allows the garment to relax over the shoulder blades and spread open. At the lower end of where the fabric has been released, the slight fold of fabric on the side back panel indicates that the center back portion of the garment needs more length. Also note the slight drag line going from the side back princess line to the side seam.
3 Slash the back and add length.
4 Let out and pin the princess seams where they opened. A close-wedge starting at the side seam and going to nothing at the side back princess seam eliminates the drag line identified in step 2. This close-wedge length adjustment at the side seam is resolved on the front side panel in addressing bust shaping.
5 Note the excess fabric through the small of the back. How closely you fit this area is personal preference.
As shown in other examples, the excess fabric can be pinned out equally on both princess seams or on just one side of the princess seam.
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