Advice on this sloper?

[krudsma]

Hi all!
Just drafted a sloper from Gareth Kershaw's "Patternmaking for Menswear." Instructions were pretty clear and I think it's a good start, however it obviously needs adjustment. Right off the bat it seems that I need to lower the armhole and lower shoulder point. I have forward sloped shoulders, so I'll need to adjust for that but I'm not sure how. From the shirt that I drafted a few months ago I know that I also need to raise the back neckline a half-inch. I haven't adjusted the balance yet either, but if memory serves I need to add .5in to the back balance. Is there anything else in these pictures that points to any problems? I've included a photo of the draft as well, apologies for the quality as I drafted it on brown craft paper and it doesn't show up very clearly in photos.

If it matters, I plan to mainly use this as a base for some casual jackets and overshirt type garments, as I already have a shirt draft that I'm happy with.

[peterle]

My first advice is, when you want to use the pattern for an overgarment you should also wear something underneath when fitting. Overgarments need more width, a wider armhole, neckhole and a longer back and front balance than shirts. You should also close the front compeletly to the top to get a relieable result

[posaune]

As Peterle said.......
and do away with this big s.a. 1 cm is enough and don't clip them in. Only when you found a tightness there.
Before you proceed further you should take your armhole down on the right side. Shoulder is hanging - I suppose about 1 -2 cm. More Back length for a rounded back, prominent shoulder blades  and a forward neck is needed.  After this alterations and buttoning up your front close and you will see what to do next to the front.
lg
posaune
Question: why do you not use your shirt draft?

[theresa in tucson]

Krudsma, in the home sewing world the rounded upper back is called "high round back" alteration.  You can find that adjustment on many blogs.  It's a very common alteration for those of us with aging spines.  The back neckline should sit right at the vertebra notch.  Put your finger on the topmost bump on your spine (where it meets the neck).  As you move your head up and down your finger should settle into a hollow.  That's where your collar seam should be.  I'm not a fit expert, just an avid home sewer.

[krudsma]

Thanks you all! I will check out that alteration. To answer your question posaune, I thought it would be worth having a basic sloper to use as a starting point for any top garment I wished to make, rather than modifying my shirt draft over and over. I'm also new to the drafting process and figured I could use the practice

[Schneiderfrei]

Krudsma,

The use of the draft will produce a better rusult and you have the bodice/sloper in the same process.

[posaune]

Krudsma, I mean, if you have a good fitting shirt you just take over the alterations made there. These will be the same because most of it are originating from posture - even if the shirt has more ease and is  easier to fit.

[krudsma]

In looking back at the shirt I made with my draft, I'm not totally happy with how it fits so I want to press onward with this sloper. I've made quite a few adjustments to it and it seems to be fitting much better - the biggest issue now seems to be these large drag lines from my (prominent) shoulder blades down to my hips. Any advice on how to fix this?

[Schneiderfrei]

It looks much better now.

More experienced folk might comment on the shoulder blades?

Where was the sloper from?

[krudsma]

Thanks Schneiderfrei! The sloper is from this book from 2013:



I found a free PDF of it online. It's got some nice clear instructions for a lot of different garment styles - I hope to use it to make some chore coats but if I get brave enough I might try an overcoat.

[Schneiderfrei]

Ok.  that's cool.

G

[peterle]

I have two questions:

There is no horizontal dart in the back yoke seam in your pattern. Did you add one?

The paper pattern seems to be less wide at the hem line than at the chest line. Is this true or just tromp l´oeil?

[krudsma]

This sloper actually doesn't have a yoke, that seam is just for the .5 inches that I added to the back balance. Some of the garments I want to make won't have yokes so I didn't want to include one in the sloper.

As for the hem, I think the picture is just skewed. The chest and hem measurement are the same.

[peterle]

Ok, I see.
I think you need even a bit more back balance, add another 1,5 centimeter.
This will make the back armhole gape a little, because without a yoke seam and without a center back seam you have a completely flat back pattern for a not so flat back. This can be addressed by darting out a part of the gaping amount with horizontal darts from the shoulder bone tip (where the folds end) to the armhole. By dart manipulation this horizontal dart can be transformed to a vertical shoulder dart.

Is the sloper very loose across the chest?

[krudsma]

Thanks! I'll give that a try. It doesn't feel loose in the chest, overall the front fits very comfortably. Does it look loose?