The Sewing Place

How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes

Vezelay

How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes
« on: June 20, 2018, 10:55:06 AM »
I made the Kitschy Coo Trifecta top recently - the one with shoulder insets - with a lovely cotton french terry from Girl Charlee. It was dead easy to make and looks great. Only problem is that although I made size 2 corresponding with my high bust and hips, it's much too tight under the arms so sadly it's  heading for the charity shop  :'(. I'd like to try again and I could definitely go a size up overall but I'm certain that wouldn't solve the problem.

I've never had that happen with raglan sleeves before. I usually increase the armscye of woven garments and sometimes of knits for extra comfort, but that's with a standard sleeve. I've no idea what to do with a raglan sleeve pattern and the Trifecta bodice to make the armhole more relaxed.

Can you point me to any tutorials for this - or give me one yourself?

PS To be fair to Kitschy Coo, my fabric has a bit less than 40% stretch, the Trifecta is meant to be close fitting, and I hate tight armholes!
« Last Edit: June 20, 2018, 11:50:06 AM by Vezelay »

b15erk

Re: How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2018, 10:57:50 AM »
I had this happen with a self drafted top some time ago, and I just put a triangular gusset under the arm, it worked a treat.

In fact I'm wearing the top at work today.


Jessie
Jessie, who is very happy to be here!!  :),  but who has far too many sewing machines to be healthy, and a fabric stash which is becoming embarrassing.

Greybird

Re: How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2018, 11:14:00 AM »
Another way to do it would be to dedraft the sleeves and body pieces. Lay the sleeve piece onto tissue and take a line across the widest point of the sleeve and extend it outwards by, for instance, an inch on each side. Then redraw it from the wrist to that point and from the neck to that point. Do the same on the body pieces by the same amount. The amount that you extend it by will depend on how much bigger you want it to be.

Re-reading this it sounds complicated but it would actually be very easy. If there are any curves or shaping on the sleeve or body edges, follow these with the new pattern lines.

Vezelay

Re: How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2018, 11:44:17 AM »
Two great ideas already! @Greybird that makes complete sense for future makes. The shoulder insets will need some thought but I can do that  :)

@b15erk I did wonder about gussets for the one I made. A while back I looked into that for another top that was too tight and decided it was beyond me. Did you insert yours after making the garment? If so, did you do sleeve and bodice separately then join them? I could do with a tutorial on that as well! I overlocked mine so apart from being a swine to unpick there's very little seam allowance to play with.

« Last Edit: June 20, 2018, 11:49:51 AM by Vezelay »

Ploshkin

Re: How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2018, 11:46:21 AM »
The one in the picture for the pattern looks a bit strangling under the arms - it must be designed to be like that for a close fit albeit not very comfortable to wear.  The whole point of raglan sleeves I would say is for a more relaxed fit.
Life's too short for ironing.

b15erk

Re: How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2018, 12:00:08 PM »
My T shirt is a short grown on sleeve, so I just opened the seam slightly, and sewed in a triangle about 11/2" by 11/4", then overlocked when it looked right.  With a raglan, I think you would need a diamond shape.

I took some pics, but the phone isn't talking to the PC today....

Jessie
Jessie, who is very happy to be here!!  :),  but who has far too many sewing machines to be healthy, and a fabric stash which is becoming embarrassing.

crafter

Re: How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2018, 22:57:32 PM »
I cannot sing the praises of a toile enough for this sort of pattern.  Use some cheap fabric to make up the pattern and then take the scissors to it - take in and add to it until you get it right.  Helps if you have your own custom dress form, although a fitting buddy can help.  Even Mr Crafter can have his uses.  Flat pattern cutting is too hit and miss for me.

By the way, the picture on that pattern is not helpful.  It doesn't fit her.

Vezelay

Re: How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes
« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2018, 10:54:32 AM »
@crafter I totally agree with you re toiles for woven fabrics but for jersey, I must have more than a dozen different jersey fabrics in my stash and another dozen in makes and no two are the same in stretch, feel, thickness. Even my 4 French terrys don't behave the save. I've made the same pattern from what I thought was a similar jersey and it's ended up smaller or larger. I made what was to be a toile for a Julia Cardigan, then made the real McCoy. The latter is too tight and I wear my toile to bits! Plus when fabric arrives in the post (I can't buy decent jersey locally) it's never quite what you expect. Just can't win!!

crafter

Re: How to enlarge raglan sleeve armholes
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2018, 12:15:59 PM »
Totally agree with you @Vezelay .  Knits are always a problem - producing the same garment with different stretches.  But with a raglan sleeve I would give it a try as that part is not actually being stretched.  I would buy something cheap from Tia Knight.