Replies

1. 
   Karen_Vesk | Dec 02, 2000 03:00pm | #1

   *
   Helena, you have chosen a difficult manoevre to accomplish, as generally one drafts a set-in sleeve into a drop-shoulder. The differences are as follows: on a drop-shoulder, the sleeve cap is flatter and with less ease, the armhole deeper, the shoulder wider and the body fuller. It would require a fair amount of fiddling to return them all to set-in sleeve proportions, and I think your best bet may be to purchase a new pattern, for the few dollars it may cost.

1. 
   DH | Dec 02, 2000 03:35pm | #2

   *I agree. It's easier and cheaper to just buy a newpattern.

1. 
   Tessa_Elston | Dec 04, 2000 09:16pm | #3

   *Just some comments up front. Mens shirts typically do seem to be a slightly drop shoulder unlike ladies shirts which finish on the shoulder point. Also, drop shoulder patterns are a very loose fit so there is going to be a lot of extra fullness under the arm, but again mens shirts are loose fitting.I suggest taking a shirt which fits the shoulders as you want the new one to fit, or have him wear another shirt and place pins on the new envisioned shoulder/sleeve seam. Lay the shirt flat on its front and on the shirt back, measure from shoulder point to shoulder point (or pins), just skimming under the back collar. Halve this measurement and compare to your pattern piece from CB neck fold out to shoulder. Mark the new shoulder/sleeve point. Measure the amount you will be taking off the shoulder. Remember to take the seam allowances into acount all the way along. I would fold under all seam allowances and work without seams until all measurements are correct, then add them back to the armhole lines.Overlap all pattern pieces (front/ yoke/ back) by their seam allowances and pin pieces together. Draw the new armhole sort-of parallel to the old one from the shoulder for about a third of the way down then tapering it out to the underarm point (Front & back). Make sure it is a smooth line. Transfer notches out to new line.Now you will need to raise the sleeve centre point (at the crown) by the amount you took off the shoulder and make sure the armhole measurement fits the body. Imitate what you took off the body but instead adding to the sleeve. The crown should not run parallel as much as the body but should taper off sooner. Use the notches as a guide too. Measure the sleeve armhole line to fit the body. You will invariably have to fiddle this along, maybe trim a bit off underarm seam to get it to fit.I have also seen epaulets not set into the sleeve seam but stitched at the shoulder edge and then folding back along the shoulder. In this case you could allow 3cm extra as a fold under to give it a firm, solid looking anchor. Lay the epaulet pointing down the sleeve with the 3cm mark at the shoulder point. Stitch it on at the shoulder point and at the "raw edge" and then flip it back and button at the neck. You will have to watch your raw edges don't peep out. Try tapering that end narrower, overlocking them or tuck the edges inside itself. Helena, I started drafting this reply on Thursday and see Karen posted a reply over the weekend. While Karen's comments are sound, I suspect you may want to try an alteration anyway so I'll post this too. I think you probably just want to alter the shoulder for the epaulet, rather than actually create a real set-in sleeve.It's worth a try! Hope you can follow these instructions. Tessa