Replies

1. 
   Trina | Dec 08, 1999 09:32am | #1

   *
   Hi Eileen,

   You can remove the shoulder pads, but you will need to alter the jacket. The pads lift the shoulder up. When you remove them, the jacket will droop. You will need to alter the shoulder area to compensate for removing the shoulder pads. I'm sure that I have seen an article in Threads about this, but I would not be able to tell you where. You might try searching. You did not mention if the jacket was lined or anything. If it is lined, the lining will, of course, need alterations made. If you need some shoulder pad shaping for the garment, you might consider making your own. This way you can custom fit them to you. Best of luck. Trina

1. 
   Evita_ | Dec 08, 1999 10:30pm | #2

   *There is an article in the current Threads magazine. Under "fitting" I think.Evita

1. 
   Stephanie_Corina_Goddard | Dec 10, 1999 02:43am | #3

   *Here is a suggestion: remove the large shoulder pads and undo the sleeve stitching from midpoint of the front, over the shoulder, to midpoint of the back. Just let it hang for now. With the help of a pin-wielding friend, try on the jacket with a smaller shoulder pad of your choice. Have the friend pin out the excess in the shoulder seam until it "fits" the new pad, tapering to nothing at the neck. Next, see if you can re-pin the sleeve to the new armhole (which is now smaller) by turning under excess seam allowance at the top of the sleeve cap. Depending on how much you need to take out, this may or may not work. If there is still too much ease in the sleeve cap, you'll need to remove the entire sleeve and take in the underarm seam as well. Caution: this may make the sleeves too short. If so, consider a decorative pleat at the top of the sleeve cap instead. Best of luck!

1. 
   Stephanie_Reekie | Dec 12, 1999 11:16am | #4

   *Dear EileenThis is not a difficult job and can really update a jacket. Very often the jacket is just too wide rather than too high.You can get into the jacket via a seam in the sleeve lining -this is where the manufacturer turns the jacket to the right side.Try the jacket on with appropriate shoulder pads after removing the old monsters. Mark the new line required with chalk on the jacket body. Often you don't have to go in more than a half inch tapering to nothing halfway down the armhole.Unpick the sleeve cap from the body of the jacket but only halfway down the armhole.(Altering the lower part of the armhole will do nothing to help you with this alteration) Cut the jacket using your chalk lines as a guide allowing for a seam allowance. If required you can restitch the shoulder seam to remove a little height but I seldom find this necessary. Reinsert the sleeve into the jacket. This should be very easy as the sleeve cap has already been eased by the manufacturer. If you have to reshape the sleeve cap to take out fullness do so and ease into shape -again I seldom find this necessary. Sew your sleeve head and shoulder pads into place. Turn to the right side and press with a ham and steam. Don't make extra work for yourself by altering the lining. It isn't necessary as it is OK to have your lining slightly bigger then the outer garment. I've used this method hundreds of times and my customers think I'm a magician!