What is this fitting issue?

[sewingj]

Please bear in mind I am still quite a novice at fitting.

I have realised that most of my sleeveless tops (home-made and RTW) gape at the back of the right armhole - towards the top. They look like they need a small dart putting in to take out the fullness.  The left armhole is fine and fits snugly to the body.
What does this mean in terms of body shape?  And when I make new tops how can I avoid it? (And keep both sides looking the same - I can`t have a dart in just one side!)  Presumably it would be best to make adjustments to the paper pattern first

[SkoutSews]

What I would do, though it's most probably wrong, is take out the fullness by adjusting the shoulder seam. It wouldn't work with stripey fabric, I suppose. Nor with anything other than a small adjustment.

Best wait for someone who knows to tell you what to do!

[Efemera]

I would do as you say ..make  a small dart but do it on the pattern, just fold the dart and make it taper to nothing, don’t cut the paper just fold and squidge it flat, you may have to redraw the armhole to make it smooth.

[Ploshkin]

Does your right shoulder slope more than your left shoulder?  Sounds as if that could be the issue.
Taking a dart out of the back armhole will in effect, change the slope of the shoulder.

[sewingj]

Does your right shoulder slope more than your left shoulder?  Sounds as if that could be the issue.
Taking a dart out of the back armhole will in effect, change the slope of the shoulder.

@Ploshkin  now you`ve asked me, yes I can see that my right shoulder does slope more than the left.

If  taking a dart out works well with sleeveless garments, should I also be making this adjustment when I sew garments with sleeves?  If so, would I have to alter the sleeve a bit as well?

[BrendaP]

If  taking a dart out works well with sleeveless garments, should I also be making this adjustment when I sew garments with sleeves?  If so, would I have to alter the sleeve a bit as well?


That depends on the sleeve, but probably yes.

If the sleeve is set smoothy into the arm scye you will need to make a similar 'dart' at the same level in the sleeve cap.  If the top of the sleeve has gathers there's no need to adjust the sleeve, just gather as much as needed.

The other option for  anything with a sleeve is to use a shoulder pad (or a thicker shoulder pad) on the low side to even out your body shape.  In that case you probably don't need the 'darts'.

[Kwaaked]

Shoulder pads are what I would do TBH, since it will visually make the body symmetrical.