Some pictures wearing the original jacket so you can see how the sleeves fit:

And wearing the new one, made of similar weight material to what I will use for the coat:









Am I better off returning to the original shoulder width?

After measuring the shoulder seams on an assembled jacket, I thought I should re-check the pattern pieces before proceeding further.

I have egg on my face.

When I laid out the armhole shapes, I forgot that I hadn't cut the shoulders off the backs to reflect the new seam location.  The corrected layout is shown below:



Happily, both seams now measure the same (22-7/8").  That leaves 1/2" ease in the existing sleeve head.

I can't believe I missed that - but then, I am the guy who ran to the hardware store the other day for a new set of drill bits.  Only to find my hand drill was set to reverse...

Trying to add ease to the sleeve cap by slashing and pivoting.

First I combined my two sleeve pieces back into a one-piece sleeve, with the construction lines indicated.  Also added length to eliminate the separate cuff.  The seam location is shown as a dashed line.



Then I cut the sleeve apart.  Added a bit of width to agree with the old cuff.  Then cut the head into four pieces and added ease as shown.

Here is the toile with a test sleeve in place:











Please tell me what you see.

At the moment you added some ease in the crown and you also increased the crown height. Is this the effect you wanted?

Why do you want more ease in your pattern and how do you want your sleeves to look like? You should consider this to change your pattern accordingly. Keep in mind that the sleeve style should match the jacket style an it's construction.

Quote from: peterle on December 06, 2024, 08:10:02 PMWhy do you want more ease in your pattern and how do you want your sleeves to look like? You should consider this to change your pattern accordingly. Keep in mind that the sleeve style should match the jacket style and its construction.

Well, to be perfectly honest - I have made three jackets with the same sleeve style and I thought it would be fun to try something different 

Also, I thought adding ease to the crown might give me enough mobility to eliminate the underarm gusset I put on those jackets.

I know it's "working backwards", but I don't have a fixed idea of what the finished jacket should look like.  Let me explain how it will be used.

We live in a very rural area.  Other than the next door neighbor's house, there is nowhere within walking distance.  And I have old jackets (an M65 field jacket and a Carhartt coat) that I wear doing chores around the property. 

So this is for taking trips to town in the car.  The short jackets are ideal for that purpose, but once the temperature gets below freezing a longer one would be nice.  Hand warmer pockets would also be nice so I don't have to bother with gloves.

Since I will be driving a lot in this coat, it's very important that the sleeves don't bind with my hands on the steering wheel.  A fitted body that doesn't ride up when I get in the seat is also important.

Does that help?

That's what I wanted you to think about.
When I read Casual Jacket I think of an unstructured, more or less straight cut garment, cut more like a shirt than a lounge coat, probably overcut shoulders and lower sleeve crown.
When I see your pattern, I think you aim for a more elegant short coat with waist nipping. This would call for a structured making, shoulder pads and an elegant two seam sleeve.
So I think it's time to make some decisions about the style before you continue.
What about raglan sleeves or a soft coat with a belt? So many variations!

I guess I was using "Casual Jacket" to mean a style without lapels  .

Quote from: peterle on December 07, 2024, 03:39:04 AMWhen I see your pattern, I think you aim for a more elegant short coat with waist nipping. This would call for a structured making, shoulder pads and an elegant two seam sleeve.

Yes, this is what I have in mind.  I don't think it will need much structure, since the cloth I have is quite thick and stiff.  But I'm not opposed to learning how to make better looking shoulders.

Not as tightly tailored as a suit jacket, and able to be closed up to the neck if necessary.  That's why I used the "convertible" collar on the previous jackets.

I think buttons look better, but a zipper is much more convenient.  I'm thinking of an overlapped zipper instead of the centerline one you see on the gray jacket.

Also thinking about pleated pockets on the front of the skirts, a bit bigger than on the gray jacket, and made so I can also put my hands in them from the side.  I have a similar style on a work vest I like.

Unsupported shoulders will allways collapse. Your choices are:
Go for more casual, make the shoulders a bit wider and make the sleeve wider but with a lower crown. The collapsed shoulder is part of the style.
Or more elegant, move the sleeve seam more to the natural shoulder point and keep a higher crown. To keep the shoulder crispy, at least sew in a bias cut strip of horsehair and/or a strip of your woolen fabric. All SAs towards the sleeve. Success not guaranteed.
Btw, I wanted to add a Pic. Got a Warning:Postimage is known for Phishing. And loading didn't work.🤔

Thanks.  I have a couple of pairs of shoulder pads on order from wawak.com.  1/4" and 1/2" thickness.

Postimage was "mad at me" a few nights ago when I stopped it from loading a full size image.  It worked normally the next morning.

A little help from the cat, as I was basting on a test collar:

While waiting for the shoulder pads to arrive, I drafted up a two piece jacket sleeve for my armhole using the M&I Kim menswear pattern book.  Here is the sloper:



and the finished draft with seam allowances:



This has a slightly higher crown than my last test sleeve, but much less bicep width.  Measured amount of ease is 1-1/2".

Just trying the jacket sleeve over my shirt, it was obvious that it was too tight for use in this coat.

So I drafted another one, keeping the same crown height but increasing the bicep width to agree with the more casual style of post #79.  As a result I have about 3 inches of ease to work into the armhole, but I don't think that will be a problem with the woolen fabric I'm using.

The resulting sleeve is on my left side in the following pictures.  The casual two-piece sleeve (post #79) remains on the right.

I have also pinned in 1/4" shoulder pads on both sides.

The only change here is a 1/2" shoulder pad on the right, keeping the 1/4" one on the left.













Please tell me what you see.