Bespoke Cutter And Tailor

Quote from: Gerry on May 25, 2025, 07:55:09 AM

Quote from: Hendrick on May 25, 2025, 07:31:10 AMSpecialised formpressing systems by Veith but also Pony of Italy (as well as asian knock off's I guess) are widely used for collars and cuffs. Many manufacturers often create their own custom cushions for these as forms vary...

Thank you for confirming that Hendrick. I've watched videos on youtube showing shirt production in huge, modern factories and the degree of automation and specialised equipment is staggering. Likewise the results: it's difficult to compete with the precision and finish of a shirt that's almost totally machine made! Thankfully, fit and style are something we still have some control over.

That, and the fact that the "hand of the maker" is obviously missing in a handmade shirt of course...

Cheers, Hendrick

So, broadly speaking the trickiest part I had was with the neck and the collar. This pattern is based off a casual shirt pattern I've used for a few shirts with good results, but I'd noticed that it sat a little off of my neck at the shoulders and came down low across my chest; and as a result, a very loose collar. So, I did as Peterle had suggested and first made a muslin with no collar so I could see where I could get it closer to my neck and allow me to make a more snug collar -  this resulted in me adjusting the front part to bring up the CF line, plus I lengthened where the yoke and front part meet to bring it closer to my neck at my shoulder. This done on the collar-less muslin looked good to me in the mirror. On the dress shirt itself the result was still a sort of loose collar, but I'm not sure where to adjust so I can tighten it up. Following the DPC advice, I made up and constructed the back/yoke/front parts so I had the complete neckline before determining the final measurement for the collar, and stay stitched so that wouldn't get distorted.

The collar was copied from an existing shirt that I liked which had a fairly large collar, I liked how that sat in a suit jacket, though when I made my first version based on that the collar stand at the front was - I thought - too tall, so I shortened the stand at the front and added some curvature (you can see where in the collar stand pic).

 

Posting pattern pics here - I'll do a separate post processing/responding to some of the recommendations

Yoke



Front part (with cut on placket)



Back part



Collar stand and collar (without seam allowance)

The side view shows a somewhat swayed or hollow back. In a draft you would push the waist forward a half cm or 1 cm forward, which might sort out a few problems. Although you might have to do a measure of balance to tidy it up again.

Where is your pattern from please?

G

Yes, well done!
My tips for the collar: do a fitting without collar and have a look, wether the neckhole has the perfect shape. If yes, controll,wether the collar band has the exactly right length for the neck hole. I also would recommend to install marks where the band should meet the yoke seams and the center back, so you can avoid shifting while pinning and sewing.(My impression is,your neckhole is probably not wide enough or not scooped out enough at the front)
Make the collar of some stiff material for the fitting, so you can slash it to find out wether it needs more curve to lay smooth.
 
And I also think the back needs some attention. It should look more relaxed. It seems you have strong shoulder blades. Now the shirt body sags from the folds outwards and is pulled under the arms. I think it needs wider darts at the yoke seam (horizontaly from the shoulder blades to the armhole).
Also for the armhole seam some notches help to install the sleeve more exactly. In the long run notches help a lot in assembling a shirt fast and exactly especially for your own shirt pattern.

take a moment
take two
raise a glass
for those we knew

life is precious
and too often short
so raise a glass
of any sort

For Hutch. Thank you.

PS, find a shirt that you own which has a collar that fits nicely round the neck. Use that as a guide for height.

I'm sure others will chime in with more observations, but on the whole it's pretty good.

Firstly, it's not bad Evan, well done. However, a couple of things scream out at me.

Your collar is being pulled down at the CF which is scrunching it at the sides, because you've cut your collar quite high at the back and sides. That's not necessarily bad, because you have a reasonably long neck, but you'll have to raise the height of the collar-stand at the front to prevent the scrunching; and/or reduce the height at the sides and back.

If you undo the first button, the collar will probably lift, straighten and look better; which will give you some idea of how much to raise things at the front. Adding a miniscule amount of curvature towards the collar tips will also help the collar to sit better at the sides; it also allows the collar to sit flatter at the front, which will help; though this flatness is achieved by spreading the collar by a tiny amount, which you may not like. This isn't 'law' BTW, a straight line to the tips springs the front, which suits some better. If you do add some curvature, try to keep things as a straight line at the very tips, as it's easier when turning the points.  Get the general height-balance from front to back sorted out first, though (curvature may not be necessary, unless you want it for aesthetics).

At the back you have a slight pool of cloth right below the nape of the neck. Your pattern probably has a shoulder angle slightly sloped for your square shoulders; which are pulling the shoulder tips up, allowing the neck area to collapse down in turn creating that fold/pool of excess cloth. The shoulders need to be cut a little squarer (more cloth going up to the shoulder tips at the back). The yoke pattern is all that needs adjusting, really.

Hi - here is my first attempt at a dress shirt. Overall I'm pretty happy with the fit, but I'm curious what people think about a few elements:

Neck: I think it's a little loose, but I'm not sure how/where to adjust on the front parts and the shoulder/back yoke. I feel like if I move those in, thus shortening the circumference, I'm going to get the shirt bunching up. Maybe I further increase the curve of the collar band so it tapers more?

Sleeves: Small thing but I need to lengthen the sleeves maybe 1-1.5cm. It's fine with arms straight, but I'd like a little extra so there's no pulling when arms are folded.

Back, around armscye: should I care what the back looks like? I feel comfortable in it, it gives me range of motion and I don't feel pulling behind me when seated with hands on a desk (I will be wearing this to work), but looking at the photos I wonder if it's off around the arms. I'll do a separate post with pattern images.

I had a bit of a better go when I increased the resolution of the original to 200 dots per inch.