I want to clarify the adjustment in the illustrations above. This quick fix may be made in a high caped sleeved garment that just has a front and back with little detail. If you only added ½” to the front and back of the garment from the shoulder seam to the hem mid way from the neck to armseye parallel to the center front, this addition would not add that much to the shoulder seam and could be removed along the armseye from notch to notch (if needed)...but by the time you are at the bust area on the body, that ½” would add 2” to the total circumference from the bust area through the hem circumference. The shoulder seam would be ‘trued’ up. This adjustment is used if the garment fits in the neck area and going up (or down) a size would make the total garment too large or too small. The 2” added in the body circumference would not affect the sleeve being stitched into the garment because the additional circumference is not being added along the side seams.

If the pattern you are think about is a over sized blouse or top and again the neck circumference is the correct size, then a larger amount may be taken out ... shoulder seam ‘trued’ and then the sleeve length can be added to or removed.

Think of the Plaza Jacket from The Sewing Workshop pattern line, or A Subtle Twist from Cutting Line Design pattern collection. Both are oversized patterns but moving up or down in size could ‘throw’ neck/sleeve length/body length off. This is a perfect alteration for an oversized garment pattern verses want you as the designer would like to have for the finished garment.