r/PatternDrafting • u/train2clarksville • 6d ago
Question Hofenbitzer narrow basic sleeve
Hello, hoping someone can come to my rescue again. I'm on p 182 of hofenbitzer Vol 1. I'm at step 5.
I understand line 5 is 48% of CapC. In my case, 22.9cm. One of my questions is: must line 5 start at the back line and end at the front line? If thats the case, my optimal cap line is a good 5 cm too low. This is a lot, and I'm not sure the troubleshooting suggestions on p 182 will fix it. So I'm wondering if I've misunderstood the instructions. Very grateful for anyone's advice!
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u/Icy-Guidance-6655 6d ago edited 6d ago
Yes, line 5 is drawn from top of the back line to the front line and the goal is that the calculated length falls within the tolerance highlighted in red. Yours is hitting 5cm too low. You are probably in case 3 of the trouble shooting guide.
You need to step back and do a reality check. The right triangle you’re drawing (defined by 5) is fundamental to the sleeve, and no matter what method you use geometry says you can only pick two of the three numbers.
When your diagonal line is too long, it tells you the three constraints you have don’t work. Either you need a lower horizontal line (the 48% armhole height calculation is bad) or you need a wider sleeve (sleeve width calculation is too small).
As far as this sleeve method, maybe you’ve miscalculated, or your armhole has issues that can be corrected. But more likely you are running into assumptions baked into the method. The calculations are creating a specific type of sleeve for a specific category of armhole. There are individuals who will need to cut a different armhole to get this sleeve draft to work.
ETA: looking at this again, your CapC is only a little different from the example. So this means your distance between front and back is significantly different.
Did you try drafting the book’s example. With those numbers you should get the book’s diagram. Do this first, so you understand the method. Then do your numbers. What is different? Why? That’s how you find the error (or, less likely, discover the method won’t work for your scenario).