Wide & Narrow Shoulder Adjustment

If you think that a Sleeves & Legs pattern will fit every man perfectly, you would be  incorrect. Three length sizes don’t guarantee a perfect fit because fit is more than just length adjustments. Our patterns are based on standard measurements, and standards won’t fit everyone. Standards were developed using many men’s measurements and the measurements are averaged for each size. If a certain measurement happens to be spot-on for the men you’re sewing for, congratulations!

Sometimes you need to adjust for wide or narrow shoulders. Because he has been working out really hard and has broad shoulders or maybe has a very slender built with narrow shoulders.

Does the pattern need an adjustment?

But before we jump into the adjustment, let’s talk about whether the pattern needs the adjustment.

The shoulder joint is where the shoulder ends, and that’s where the shoulder seam should sit. When you raise an arm, there’s a depression where the shoulder joint is. You can see this depression better if you raise your arm not directly to the side, but rather, half way between your front and your side.

And of course, you will need to make a muslin to see whether the garment’s shoulder seam is on top of the shoulder joint.

Note that some garments are not meant to have the shoulder seam on the shoulder. There are plenty of designs that have the shoulder seams sitting inside. On the contrary, the seam of a dropped-shoulder design is supposed to fall off your shoulder. This is not the case for the Aiden hoodie pattern.

Narrow/wide shoulder adjustment

• Trace the pattern pieces: top, middle and bottom front.  Tape these pieces together so you get a full front body piece. As the Aiden hoodie has no seam allowances included, you don’t need to remove the seam allowance at the shoulder and armscye.
• Make a second trace of just the armscye.
• Mark the new end point of the shoulder width.
• Place the armscye trace under the full trace. Match the top of the armscye with the new shoulder point and pivot the full trace until the bottom armscye is in line with the original side seam. Separate the pattern pieces from each other, so you’ll have a top, middle and bottom front piece with an adjusted shoulder & armscye seam.
• Repeat on the back piece of the pattern.