Sewing for Petites

Okay, I’m short. And I don’t like fitted tees. I like a little roominess there. Unfortunately for me, it’s hard to find that nowadays. T-shirts in my size are too fitted for my taste, and the shirts that are a bit looser fitting have ginormous shoulder widths, and the shirt hangs on me like a bad …well, it just looks sloppy, awful, and very sad. Patterns sometimes aren’t much better, but at least I have some control. I can adjust the width of the bodice, without adding more to the width shoulder seam. Or in this case, I found a bust and waist width I like, so I am making the shoulder seam shorter, thus narrowing the shoulder width, to fit me exactly. Which I think is easier to do than to add width to the bust/waist.

How to Adjust a Shoulder Width on a Pattern to Be Narrower

Step 1: First determine how much you want to narrow the shoulder width by. Measure along the top of your shoulder, to determine how wide you want your shirt’s shoulder seam to be, and compare it to the pattern.

Step2: On the bodice front: Make a mark 1 ½ inches to 2 inches in from side along shoulder.

Step 3: Make another mark about 1/3 to ½ the way down the armscye (or arm opening).

Step 4: Use a clear straight edge/ruler to draw straight lines from these marks to where they meet.

Step 5: Cut along the lines.

Step 6: Pivot the cut out piece, keeping the inside lower corner in place.

Adjust until the shoulder cutting line measures the desired amount, or is decreased by the amount you determined it needed to be decreased by in step 1.

Step7: Tape the pivoted piece in place. Draw a new cutting line for shoulder and a new cutting line for armscye. Do this by following the angle of the neck side of shoulder and continue across to the outside/armscye, as shown.

For armscye, draw a new cutting line, connecting the lines on either side of the opening.  You may want to trace the new, adjusted pattern, as shown.

• Repeat for bodice back, so that the new shoulder widths will match in length.
• If you have adjusted an inch or more, then you will need to adjust your sleeve pattern piece as well.
• You can also use this method to make the shoulder seam wider, by pivoting the opposite direction.

Hope this helps!