[Jacket Pattern Adjustment Highlights]
Instructor: “So, what you’re seeing here is the amount of fullness needed for movement, represented by this generously curved armhole. You can start by drawing the armhole curve like this, and even if you’re not entirely confident, you can go ahead and make the garment. Once it’s made, try it on and move around to judge if the shape and curve of the armhole are set correctly.
Now, just looking at the armhole shape and judging the adequacy of the fullness is based on my subjective experience. For instance, if we asked a fit model about how the jacket feels, they might say, ‘This arm movement feels pretty good,’ or ‘The mobility is decent.’
Overall, I believe the armhole shape should be aesthetically pleasing and well-rounded. When you’re working on patternmaking, you’ll find that every adjustment after fitting leads to some compensatory actions. You’re trying to balance out an issue by compensating somewhere else. For example, if the armhole curve looks narrow, sharp, and elongated, it might indicate that the armhole depth is deep, and the balance between the front and back width across the chest is relatively wider compared to the side width. With a narrower side width, the sleeve width will naturally be smaller. If you decide to deepen the armhole to compensate, you can gain some sleeve width, but this will raise the sleeve cap height unnecessarily, making it uncomfortable to lift the arms.
As you gain experience in fitting and pattern adjustments, you’ll become better at predicting the outcomes.
Now, if the current amount of fullness is satisfactory but you want to enhance the curve slightly, I would suggest raising the armhole. By raising the armhole, you can achieve the well-rounded shape we’re aiming for. Currently, the armhole depth is about 23.23 cm. Honestly, you could raise it to 21 cm. 21 cm or 22 cm? There’s still room to go higher, so you could fill in this area while drawing the curve. And honestly, you don’t need to worry about raising the armhole too much—maybe just 0.4 cm?
With this adjusted pattern, you can make another sample and then assess and correct any new issues that arise.”
