Fit Notes For Shoulder Darts And Yokes

I thought I would put together a quick post of some fit notes for shoulder darts and yokes because I often mention them and use them in many sewing projects.

Unless you have the most immaculate upright posture with perfectly aligned shoulders, there’s a good chance that you might benefit from a shoulder dart even if it’s just a small one…and if you’re like me with forward rolling shoulders and slightly rounded upper back (the latter is probably due to my Osteoporosis). Prominant shoulder blades can also create the need for a shoulder dart.

Symptoms that you might experience when clothes don’t quite fit right due to the problems mentioned are:

• shoulder seems wanting to ride back
• necklines that drag up at the front,
• armholes gaping at the back
• garments hemlines that stick out at the back.

The last one is more likely to happen when you have exaggerated forward rolling shoulders or more of a rounded back.

Going back two years, I took a drafting course by Gina Renee. During the course, I drafted and then fitted a moulage, a skin-tight basic bodice with no wearing ease, and then from that moulage, I had to adapt the pattern and draft a basic bodice sloper. A sloper has some wearing ease drafted into it and can be used as a starting point to make patterns for tops, blouses, dresses, and jackets. The shoulder darts generated by the drafting process of my moulage and sloper are pretty deep, as you can see in the next photo. So, I certainly have my work cut out when fitting my clothes, especially if a pattern has no shoulder darts or princess seams, yikes! Luckily, over the years, I’ve learned to recognise where I need to alter my patterns and how to add the necessary shaping for a good fit.

I haven’t come across that many pattern companies that use shoulder darts in their drafting, but a couple that I’ve used are Vikisews (I’ve seen shoulder darts in their coats and one or two dresses) and Sistermag(some of their tops and some coats). So here is how I would add some shaping…

If you have a basic shoulder slope design pattern with a plain back bodice, you can add a dart in two ways.

1. If you have slightly forward shoulders and a flat back, or protruding shoulder blades, this first method might be for you.

Draw down from the middle of the shoulder slope down about 10cm and then across to the armhole. Move the whole section out by about 1-1.5cm. Draw in a dart. Next, blend the armhole line and then true the shoulder seam to align the dart edges. **Note. You may have to go through some trial and error to find what amount of dart intake you need, so test the method out first.**

2. If you have more of a rounded upper back combined with some forward shoulders, you can try this adjustment instead. Draw down from the centre of the shoulder seam by about 10cm and intersect the bottom of the dart line with a horizontal line from the centre back to the armhole edge. Move the top section up. This adds more length at the middle of the back and, at the same time, opens up a dart (I would start by raising it by about 1cm, but again, you might have to go through some trial and error as everyone’s needs vary). Place and stick some paper behind the adjusted section, then draw in the dart and true the upper dart edge at the shoulder seam.

Once you’ve mastered the process of adding a dart and figured out which method works for your shape, you can play with style lines instead of darts. I like the use of a back yoke, and you’ve seen me incorporate them into sweaters (see here and here). I don’t have so many problems with regular lightweight jersey knits as they drape and conform to your curves. But a stable chunky knit is fair game. And they are nice on some jackets and blouses. Here’s how you move a shoulder dart to a yoke seam:

1: Draw a horizontal line level with the base of your shoulder dart. On the armhole edge at the line, measure down the width of the dart intake and mark a point. From that point, draw to the bottom of the dart.

2: Cut across the new yoke line. Now cut down one side of the dart to, but not right through, the bottom edge. Then close up the dart.

3: Don’t forget to smooth the new seam line at the top edge of the lower bodice. Also, re-draw/straighten the shoulder seam (see the green lines on the next photo)

This is your new back yoke, and you have a lower back bodice with built-in shaping at the armhole where you moved the dart intake.

If you want a deeper yoke, you can now add extra length to your new pattern piece as long as you remove the same amount from the lower section. Oh, and don’t forget to add some seam allowances to the lower yoke edge and upper edge of the body piece.

I’ve used shoulder darts in dresses, blouses and coats, though it often depends on fabric drape and the design you’re sewing. Princess seams that intersect with the shoulder seams are great for shaping over your shoulders, and a shirt with a yoke is an opportunity for adding shape, too.

**You may also need to move your actual shoulder seam forward when you have a forward rolling shoulder. This involves adding a bit to the back and taking the same amount from the front shoulder. Do this adjustment last, and again, you may need to experiment with how much you have to move it **

A final point about my fit adjustments…As well as often needing a dart, I always have to adjust for my fairly square shoulders, even when I don’t use a dart. I do have what you might call forward rolling shoulders, but moving the shoulder seam forward by an equal amount across the seam doesn’t work for me. Instead, I have to square off my back shoulder seams and add more slope to my front seams. It’s a foible of my shape. 🙂 The more you make clothes, the more you’ll discover which adjustments work and which ones don’t. I recommend making mock-ups to test fit before cutting your precious fabric if you’re still sussing out your fit needs.

A final note about dart positions. You can move shoulder darts into the back neck. This is quite good if you have a rounded upper back. For me, these aren’t as effective as the shoulder darts because I’m fairly flat right at the top of my back. My roundness is a bit lower around my shoulder blade area. Neck darts do have their use, for instance, on a sleeveless top with very narrow shoulders. A dart may not look right or work as well with such a narrow shoulder, so a back neck placement is a good option. Something to remember for your future makes 🙂

I’ll finish with a little gallery of clothes I’ve made that have got yokes or shoulder darts.

Well, I hope you found my post easy to understand and hopefully useful too. Thanks for reading and feel free to chat about it in the comments.

See you soon!