Patterning the Mens Shirt Part 1: Fit Changes

>> Hello, everyone.

This is the draft for your men's shirt.

And I'm just giving you a
little introduction here.

I probably can't fit the whole
thing in the screen very well.

This is the front piece.

We're going to have a left and a
right front, two separate pieces.

They need to be two separate pieces.

The pocket is going to go on the
wearer's left, this is standard.

We're going to have some plackets -- or a
placket for the buttons and a shaped hem.

The men's shirt -- which we'll go over --

the shoulder comes forward
a little bit from the yoke.

So it sort of gives some
attention to the men's shoulders.

And then this is the back.

This is the front fold right now.

This is where the yoke will
sew in right here, this fold.

And we would have a pleat
at the back, center back.

So there's lots of little pieces included in
here that I'm not going to show you right now.

But what do we do to get started?

You're going to start with taking
your sloper and tracing it.

The sloper is set up to be for a
wearer's right, so that's fine.

We're going to make some fit changes
and then we're going to adjust that,

make a copy of the fit changes
and then make changes

for the asymmetrical pattern
that we're going to do.

You can leave some space around here.

There's going to be a lot of changes on
this, including cutting some pieces apart.

And I just want to note that as I record
this video, it is before this class starts.

And I will be making some additional
changes, minor changes, at this point.

I'm pretty much set up.

But as I'm thinking about this today,
because the class is so fast, four weeks,

I'm not going to require that
you do final clean patterns.

It can be working patterns.

So I just made that decision this morning.

But do be as clean as possible as you're going.

If you need to make a copy
of something, that's fine.

I just don't want to use up a lot of paper
and I don't want to take up a lot of time,

because there's a lot to do in this class.

So I'm just tracing around my front
sloper, including all notches.

As we go through the pattern, we'll
be reducing the number of notches

for the pattern quite dramatically,
so just keep that in mind.

The last thing I'm going to do
is mark in where my dart is.

You know, we're not going
to have a dart on here.

I always think it's a good idea to start.

This season we don't want a dart.

Next season we might want a dart.

So just mark it in.

And draw it in.

So I'm going to do that also
with my back offscreen.

I have traced my front and back, and now
I'm getting ready to trace the sleeve.

Before I trace it, I just
want to make a note here.

I spent some time this morning making sure
that my arm hole was accurate to my sloper,

so the arm hole and the cap of the
sleeve match as well as the notches.

Good idea to do that.

Better to do that now than to
have a problem down the line,

which you will see in the upcoming videos I did.

I had to backtrack a little bit.

So I'm ready to trace this sleeve.

And what you need to do when
you're tracing sleeves

and pants is first draw the
grainline on the paper.

So underneath here, I drew the grainline
on the paper that I'm tracing it onto.

And that's the best way to do it,
best way to get into that habit.

Once you have that, align it so that
it all matches, and then trace around.

The first thing we're going to be doing --
we're not really dealing with this sleeve,

I don't think, until a little bit later.

The first thing we're going to be doing
is addressing major fit differences

from a sloper to a shirt.

And if you just think about that,
it's usually the men's shirt.

It's boxier.

It doesn't have a lot of
fitting, sometimes it does.

But is still not as fitted
as a woman's garment usually.

So I am done with that.

Always the first step that we
don't have a lot of time to talk

about in class is developing the design
pattern to first take your base that we spent

so much time working on and trace it.

We'll start on the front.

Okay, we're starting with the front.

And whenever you're making fit changes,
changes to your sloper, 99% of the time,

you want to start with changing your length.

It's going to be short or long or
whatever, you want to start with that.

And what we're going to do is extend the length.

And then shirts have a tail
that reaches the crotch depth.

This is a size -- I keep
forgetting -- 40, I think, 40.

Yeah, 40. And so according
to my chart that I looked at,

the crotch depth for a 40 is 10 inches.

My sloper extends to eight inches.

Depending on which sloper you're
using, if you have developed your own

or using a different one,
it may already be at 10.

That's perfectly reasonable.

But mine isn't.

So I'm going to add two inches to the length.

I'm trying to do this in two different colors
and not go too far overboard with my colors.

So this is dark blue if you can't tell.

I'm just squaring that down at the hip width.

I'm worried about my lighting.

Okay, that's the front.

Since I just did that, before I
forget, I'm going to do it on the back.

Same thing.

So that it should match in length.

Two inches.

Square it up.

I'm going to make some additional changes here.

At the shoulder level, we're
going to go out both the front

and back the same amount in
the amount of 1/4 to 3/8.

So here's one.

I'm going to do 3/8.

I'm going to extend along the
angle of the shoulder the amount.

I don't have to do anything
to raise it but just go out.

I'm saying 3/8 depending on the
figure that you're dealing with.

So marking that as a point there.

I'm going to also come out 1/2 inch.

This is on the back.

I'm going to come out 1/2 inch in the middle
of the arm hole with no specific point,

but just extending it by 1/2 there.

And then at the armpit, we're
going to go out and down.

We're going to go out 3/4 and down one.

You want to do this on grain.

Out 3/4 would be here.

So I'm going to mark this at the level
of the armpit and then drop that down.

And actually do it here, one inch.

So it does not follow the
angles of the side seam.

It's independent of that and it's
in relation to the grain here.

So my new armpit is going to be here.

And I'm just going to go ahead
and draw that in with the curve.

You can try two different curves.

On menswear, you often use the hip
curve rather than the French curve.

French curve is perfect for women's.

It doesn't always work for men's very well.

You can try it.

That's not bad.

But the hip curve is a little longer and
gives you a little bit more space to work in.

Try to hit all these three points without
going under 90 degrees at that corner.

You can double check that when you're done.

But you don't want to big swoopy curve there.

From here, we're going to go straight down.

I'm going to draw this straight
to the bottom of the hip.

Straight lines diagonal.

Depending on your sloper,
it's going to be different.

In this case it's sort of going in a
little bit, but that's just how it is.

I don't need this little bit anymore.

And then I'm going to go in at the
waist level 1/2 inch, this is optional.

But it will give you a little bit of shaping.

And right now, the fit is
very slim for menswear.

So I would say, yeah, it would be acceptable,
it would be appropriate to sew the dart

if you wanted it and to give
this little shaping in here.

Shaping is going to be slightly curved.

So coming back very, very subtle, coming back
out to my new armpit and then flip the curve

and come back out to wherever
it hits nicely near the hem.

So it can definitely be an S curve.

So actually, intercepting with my
original hip level, sort of around there.

So I'm going to cross out this,
I don't need that anymore.

I can cross out this internal
one, I don't need that anymore.

And now I'm going to go ahead and
do the same thing on the front.

Don't look at the measurements that you did.

Do what I did.

I decided to go out 3/8 at the shoulder.

So extending this out 3/8.

In the middle of the arm hole for the front, we
don't make any changes in the front arm hole.

But we are going to make changes,
same changes, at the armpit.

So we're cheating here.

I'm putting this all green.

And I'm going to go down 3/4
-- no, out 3/4, down one.

Out 3/4, down one.

This is pattern grading, grading,
size grading is a similar process.

So the end of my -- 3/4 out.

And this is my little mark.

Close enough there, that point, straight down.

At the waist level, come in 1/2 inch, and
then re-draw your side seam and arm hole.

So this would become a notch, eventually.

And then I'm going to use my grid.

So we typically -- well, not typically.

You never want to drop below the
90 degree angle at the arm hole.

And it's good to have little
markers to guide your curves.

So this is going to be pretty different.

It's going to come in to
match my original notch.

Like that.

Take a look at that.

Very boxy in there.

I might make a little change there.

I don't love that.

So I'm just going to scoot
that out a little bit.

Okay, now let's measure the arm
holes and re-mark the notches.

After I have made my adjustments to my arm
holes, I'm double checking the measurements.

It's going to change a little bit.

So on the back, I have an even 11.

Double check that.

Make that 11, which I thought
I wrote on here, 11 inches.

And on the front, I have 10.

Yeah, that's my back.

On the front, I have something
different, just 11 as well.

So I'm going to -- okay, backup a little bit.

So on my back, I have 11.

On my front, I have 11, pretty close.

My back becomes a little bit bigger.

My front gets a little bit smaller by 1/4 inch.

It's just a matter of curving
it slightly differently.

So my back is -- I've got this pin, it's
not very accurate, but I'm going to push it

to be a little bit more curvy
than it is right now.

So I'm going to try to get
to 11 1/4 on that side.

And then on the front, I'm
going to try to get to 10 3/4.

So I'm going to flatten out this curve
a little bit to get to that point.

Okay, so we probably, you know,
definitely do this in pencil.

You may have to try it a couple
times before you get it right.

So you need to have that 1/2 inch difference.

The back is bigger by 1/2 inch.

So I'm going to fuss with that a little bit.

Okay, so here's my finalized arm hole.

I should have done the pin
at the end, but I didn't.

So now I have a balanced arm
hole again, 1/2 inch difference.

So I have 11 1/4 on the back
and 10 3/4 on the front.

Now we're going to move on to the sleeve.

I'm going to keep that close by.

You're going to need to add some paper --

well, I needed to add some paper under
mine because this paper's too narrow.

We're doing several different
things on this one.

This is a little different draft than I'm
used to, but I'm just trying this out.

The first thing that you want to do is translate
what you did on the sloper shoulder to the cap.

I extended mine 3/8.

So I'm going to draw the cap of the sleeve 3/8.

And then the next thing I'm going to
do is figure out what bicep you need.

I needed a 13 1/2 inch bicep.

And to that, I'm adding some ease.

13 1/2 I'm using decimals here.

I'm going to add -- that's
the actual bicep measurement.

You're going to add in 5
1/2 inches of ease for that.

Because it's very, very loose under there.

So I end up with 18 plus one, 19.

And dividing that in half again,
divide it in half to balance it out.

And then I'm going to take that
measurement -- which is 9 1/2 --

and I'm going to use my ruler
at the center of the grainline.

And I'm going to create a guideline at 9 1/2.

So that comes way out here.

So it's kind of long.

Because I don't know if it's
going to go up and down.

It usually goes up a little bit.

And I'm going to do the same
thing on the other side.

That will exactly be pretty much the same.

9 1/2 -- yep, 9 1/2.

Then draw that as a guideline as well.

Okay, now you take your arm hole from your
bodice, front and back, and add them together.

Over here.

Mine is 11 1/4 plus 10 3/4, so I have
22 is my total arm hole from the bodice.

Divide that in half, so I get 11.

And then I'm going to draw
from the 3/8 inches down,

I'm going to do a diagonal
line, that is 11 inches.

And I'm going to pivot my ruler
until I hit 11 on the ruler.

Let me say that again.

The point of the ruler's going on the 3/8.

Put your finger on your measurement,
11 inches, and mark that when you get

to 11 inches on your little piece of paper.

So here I have 11 right here.

Pivot the ruler until you hit 11 on
that little mark, and then draw that in.

So it's actually going to be a
diagonal line, which I'll do in pencil.

Diagonal line straight.

And then same thing with the other side.

So since I'm working off of my centerline,
it's also going to be 11 on the other side.

Right there.

Now, this one is ending up pretty much in line

with what the old bicep was,
but sometimes it doesn't.

The dart's a little bit above.

The new bicep level is here.

It's a 1/4 inch higher.

Now you're marking where the notches are.

So on my back, I have three.

And in the book, it's 1/4,
but I usually do it 1/2 apart.

So three, I'm going to do 3 1/2, past that.

And the front, it's got 3 1/2.

It's at that point that you
have the dip, the dip.

3 1/2. The dip is where you need that
curve to fit under that muscle there.

And that amount that it dips in at that
point is 1/8 of an inch, it's very small.

I'm going to do the same pin in a minute,
but before I make a lot of changes.

Same thing at the back.

And then in the top 1/3 of the cap,
we're going to go out 1/2 inch.

So these are much less detailed
measurements than they are for the sleeve.

So I am at this cross-mark.

This is my notch here, 1/8 inch at that point.

And then the curve is going to come out
somewhere around here, 1/2 inch out.

And it's the same thing on the other side.

Somewhere around the notches.

And then back here is your curve.

Draw that in.

And whenever you're doing sleeve
curves, you want to intercept the curve.

So it goes over past a little
bit and then flip it like that

and then past it again a little
bit, so it blends in nicely.

Other side.

We're going towards that notch.

Flip it.

So I have the cap done.

Before you move on, measure the cap.

I'm going to use a tape measure.

All right, so I got a new measurement
to the other side, and I got 22 1/4.

So 22 1/4.

My sleeve itself -- arm hole
I should say -- is 22.

I'd like to be a little big bigger
than that, but you do not have to have

as much ease in men's as you do in women's.

You can be equal in men's.

You can be 1/2 inch difference.

I'm just going to leave it for simplicity sake.

Those are the fit changes that we need to make.

The next is going to be adjustments for style.

And I'm just going to finish up
this sleeve with this in mind.

We're going to have a cuff.

So I can shorten the sleeve as
it is right now by two inches.

And that happens very easily, just chop that up.

And then I make the little scissors so
that I remember that this is a new one.

All right, and then

we'll make some changes in the wrist for pleats.

Okay, a little bit more than that.

In this draft, the men's shirt has
two pleats and it also has ease.

This shirt that I'm using as my sample,
if you look at the slit part here,

there are different orientations for this,

but they typically do have two
pleats in the sleeve there.

So we're going to use the
following measurements.

You can be a little bit creative,
but make sure that it fits.

We're going to use two pleats.

So you can see this, yes.

Two pleats.

I'm going to have each pleat at 1 1/4 inch.

So times two equals 2 1/2.

I'm going to have to add that
in while separately I need

to consider what's the minimum
measurement of my wrist.

For this figure, my measurement
chart, I'm using 7.25.

That would be if it was super tight.

How much ease?

About 1 1/2.

Sorry, I'm going back and forth
between fractions and decimals.

When I add those together, I get 8 3/4.

Okay, and then I'm adding in my pleats to that.

So the pleats are 2 1/2.

And what's my total?

11 1/4.

That would be the total wrist measurement.

And we want to make sure
it's balanced on each side.

So again, divided by two.

And it is 5 5/8.

Hopefully you understood that math process.

So 5 5/8 on either side of the grainline.

5 5/8 makes it right here, just a hair outside.

5 5/8 on the other side.

And then you can connect
that to your new armpit.

You can see why I love to make clean
copies, it gets to be confusing.

And the other side.

So I've finished the main changes
for the fit, and we'll move onto some

of the more stylistic changes
in the next videos.