Jacket Toile Fit Check

[posaune]

Sorry to say, I see no much progress. There must have something happened to the draft when going for a slightly corpulence. The back is better, but it requires maybe a bit length 1//8" now in my opinion (shoulder blades) which will help the front too.
The hanging side: I would do the back the same, otherwise what about the sleeve and now you have folds  near collar there. And it maybe that your hanging side give you a narrower side as we can see at right side.
But I'm no tailor for gents
lg
posaune
I just see you have new pics. And you have a wife, hurrah. Now let her pin one pin at the back at CB under your shirt collar. Rip the collar. Open one shoulder seam. Now maybe she can try to rotate or manipulate the front pattern so that the front will fall straight. It maybe that she must open the side seam a bit or take a wedge out in front.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/f3aaabdtfsmn6yy/hangingside.png

[peterle]

Now I´m sure: please recheck the width of your back neck hole. It always seemed very large in my eyes, and in the new pics it´s obvious.

A smaller back neckhole will also bring the front neckpoints (keep them as they are) closer to the neck. This would explain some of the issues.

[jruley]

Now I´m sure: please recheck the width of your back neck hole. It always seemed very large in my eyes, and in the new pics it´s obvious.

A smaller back neckhole will also bring the front neckpoints (keep them as they are) closer to the neck. This would explain some of the issues.

Point 10 from 0 (top of back construction line) is 1/6 of the scale plus 1/2".  Re-checking my draft it's a little too wide, but no more than 1/8".  It's possible I read 21 on my scale (the half chest) instead of 20 (the scale for 42 chest size).

I understand there are collar issues which can also cause this.  I did not draft a new collar after straightening the front, so the shape is probably wrong now. I propose to remove the collar and send photos with the plain neck line.  I'm wondering if I need a little more crooked shoulder than the draft calls for, or apparently crooked (relative to the wide back neck) - but the photos should tell the tale.

[peterle]

In a Rundschau pattern the back neck width would be 8,3cm = 3,27". No seam allowances included. This is 1/2" smaller. Maybe that´s why it looks wide for me.

Comparing the different patterns the Rundschau neckhole is also less high so has to be less wide naturally. So your wide looking neckhole is not the problem.

[jruley]

I think the Rundschau neck is actually wider.  For my scale value of 20 I get:

(1/6) * 20 + 0.5 = 3.8333

This includes two 3/8" seams, so the net width is:

3.8333 - 0.75 = 3.083, or a little more than 3-1/16"

I am about to try removing the collar to see what that tells us.

[jruley]

OK, I took off the collar.  It may have contributed, but I think the main issue is the roll line is too long.  When the coat is buttoned, the roll line bows upward, stands off the chest and pushes the collar away from the neck:









After pinning a horizontal wedge across the chest looked promising, I sewed a horizontal dart across the upper chest, tapering from 3/8" (half width) at the lapel edge to nothing at the side seam.  This was initially suggested by peterle before the neck point was straightened.  This has pulled the lapels closer to the chest:









I think my next step should be to make new fronts taking out this wedge.  This has raised the buttoning point, so I think I will move the buttons down until the lower button is level with the pockets.  Then draft a new collar accounting for the changes in the roll line.

Please let me know if anyone has other changes or suggestions.  Thanks again for your help.

[jruley]

Two more changes.

After reading a bit more about corrections for dropped shoulder, I decided to try something similar to what Posaune posted.  A wedge was sewn out of the upper right back at shoulder level, tapering from 1/4" (half width) at the scye to nothing at CB.  This cleaned up a lot of the wrinkling below the right arm.  Still not perfect, but more symmetrical with the left side.

By itself, this alteration pulled the collar away from the right side of the neck.  Reading the alterations instructions carefully, they called for crookening the right shoulder, not just dropping the seam down vertically as I had done.  So, I took out the shoulder seam and moved the front 1/2" inboard relative to the back.  This brought the roll line back against the neck.

The combined effects are shown in the following pictures:









Does anyone have any other suggestions before I capture these changes in a new pattern? 

Thanks,

Jim R.

[hutch--]

This one looks a lot better Jim, front is much tidier.

[jruley]

In case anyone is wondering this thread is my reference for dropped shoulder corrections:

http://www.cutterandtailor.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1241&hl=%2Bdropped+%2Bshoulder

I started with the New Mitchell System correction (post #6) because it was so simple.  Unfortunately it didn't seem to work well in my case.

I took the idea for the back wedge and crookening of shoulder from Whife's discussion (post #9).  Haven't made the slight changes to the side seam yet but plan to try them in the new pattern.

[jruley]

Here is the new pattern, showing the combined effects of taking out the wedges described yesterday.   Per Whife's instructions for a dropped shoulder, I have also allowed a bit more room on the right side of the skirt to allow for a larger hip on the "down" side.

I have added 1/2" extra length to the turn-up to allow for adjustments to the hem to make it appear level.  Also added an overlap for a center back vent.  I was thinking about side vents, but with the asymmetrical skirt it might be a nightmare to make them hang evenly.

[jruley]

The wedge in the back on the right side resulted in a prominent "dowager hump" on my upper back.  A slight bump was actually there already, but this really made it stand out.

I tried straightening the seam in the affected area, which cleaned up the hump.  However, left lapel started gaping again, and pulling away from the side of my neck. 

Rather than play with the shoulder seam to correct this, I decided to try a different way of taking the wedge out of the back, shown as a 1959 Rundschau method in the Cutter and Tailor forum references for dropped shoulder.  This puts the pivot for the wedge at the top of CB seam, so does not affect curvature of it.

The resulting pattern change is shown here (figure on left replaces right).  After the first try-on, I also flattened the upper back slightly as shown - about 1/8".



I patched in a piece of fabric (note to self:  INLAYS!  INLAYS!) and recut the right back.  Here's how the resulting mockup looks:









There is just a little wrinkling at the shoulders and back of neck, and below the shoulder blades.  Is this telling me the back is too long?  If so, can I shorten it without popping up the lapels again?

[Henry Hall]

Progress!

[peterle]

The second drop shoulder alteration is much better I think.

I notice two other things in the back:
First thing is the slight diagonal folds from the lower edge of your shoulder blades towards the Waistline/ sideseam.
I think this is caused by a slightly too short back balance , and probably could be removed by adding a horizontal stripe of 1-1,5cm across the hole back somewhere in the middle of the armholes.
The second thing is that the right fold is shorter than the left. it seems the fabric can´t move freely there at the waistline and the hole back is pulled a bit towards the right. Your back seam seems to be slanted to the right. I think this is caused by missing width for the high hip. You added some width to the skirt from waistline downwards, but I think you need the additional width a bit higher (at the love handles, or whatever this region is called appropriately).

Regarding the wrinkling at the back neck: without collar the back neckhole stretches tremendousely. you should recheck it, iron it to the former shape and secure it with a row of stay-stitching at the final sewing line. Sometimes these wrinkles are caused by an unclipped wide sewing allowance that prevents the neckhole in taking it´s proper position.

[jruley]

Thanks Henry and peterle!  I will tape the back neck and make some experiments with the back as suggested.

Thanks,

Jim

[Greger]

Rory Duffy has his videos. One of them he talks about uneven shoulders. Another he adjusts balance until the hem is level. Uneven shoulders are not all the same. The other video he certainly understands his pattern. This can also be done by using a row of stitches at waist level (easier than getting on ones knees ).