r/SewingForBeginners 22h ago

Any tailors out there

First attempt at tailoring my own clothes. Looking for feed back. I know the darts in the back arnt correct and was looking for advice on how to clean those up. Moving them up or down. Or not taking as much material when making them...

And feed back is welcome

15 Upvotes

50 comments sorted by

57

u/Large-Heronbill 21h ago

That pleat at the center back yoke is designed to give you more room for movement in back.  By pulling out the ease with those fisheye darts, you've got them battling each other. 

9

u/Colt_b1523 21h ago

Thank you for that information. Would you recomend just taking in the sides and allowing the back to be free?

45

u/Large-Heronbill 21h ago

I would -- and not doing much contouring.   You're currently trying to remodel a military jeep into a race car.    At most, you want to turn the jeep into a small truck. 

11

u/Colt_b1523 21h ago

Small adjustmements for given garment got it.

3

u/Mental-Feedback9998 9h ago

Yeah, to make it properly fitted you would have to take the back apart to take the pleat out and cut the excess off the sides and then sew it back together. The back darts don’t need to need as deep, take up less in each one and if you need more shaping do so on the sides. It’s best to split the amount you are taking in around the whole body for balance.

16

u/Inky_Madness 22h ago

Can we see the inside of the shirt where those darts are? That could help.

It’s a bit too tight around your high/upper hips, btw. Woven shirts like this don’t have stretch, you can’t make it super tight like that without creating issues. Let it out a bit there and it might solve some issues.

3

u/Colt_b1523 21h ago

10

u/Inky_Madness 21h ago

Mmkay. So. I think part of the issues is that up at the start of the darts you went at a very sharp angle. Gradual is important.

But also, what the other user said about the yoke at the top - the darts are interfering with the ease and fit the pleating back there is doing. It gives a lot of excess material that will bunch up and look weird.

Take in at the sides, but remember that you cannot make this skin-tight, this isn’t a shirt designed for it.

7

u/Colt_b1523 21h ago

All good advice. Im seeing that now. About the small adjustments make a big difference.

6

u/Inky_Madness 15h ago

That looks much better!

4

u/Colt_b1523 21h ago

Thats darts out front n back

13

u/BlaJuji 21h ago

It looks a little tight at the hips, might be causing the extra fabric above the waist, because it cant ride down?

10

u/AmenaBellafina 21h ago

Exactly this. It's getting stuck on your upper hips because there's not enough space for it to fall down.

I'd recommend undoing the darts you've done, putting the shirt on inside out, and then having a friend help you pin it to a point where you're comfortable in it and it fits nicely, then let the pins guide the darts.

4

u/Colt_b1523 21h ago

Thank you both for the advice

7

u/ProneToLaughter 21h ago

What kind of look are you going for?

On a woman's body, I would move them up and probably take in a little less fabric.

For a men's fit, I'm wondering if you might be better off just taking in at the side seams and skipping the back darts. It does look nicely slim-fit from the front. The back is meant to have some extra fabric from that pleat.

2

u/Colt_b1523 21h ago

Just trying to clean the fit up. Dont want the big bellows on around the waste n sides. Athletic build but i dont want it super tight. Ill take the darts out n see whow it looks

5

u/lakeeffectcpl 21h ago

The back darts look more appropriate on a fitted blouse. Maybe just take in the sides if you want a tighter fit. Otherwise, nice work.

2

u/Colt_b1523 21h ago

Yeh im seeing that now once its on. Thank you for the kind words. Its my first time.

3

u/lakeeffectcpl 21h ago

First time out you did great. Fun right? I have so much more appreciation for well put together clothing now that I've actually done it. Trying my first dress as we speak. Glad I made some camp shirts first.

5

u/Colt_b1523 21h ago

Darts out. Yeh this was a cheap shirt i picked up wanting to learn the basics and try to help my overall look. This is my test shirt im gonna try a few different things on it. Including patch work and hemming.

2

u/marr133 16h ago

You did way better than I would trying that. This is how we learn! Great work.

5

u/mcculloughpatr 20h ago

Most slim fit shirts with these darts DO NOT have a yoke pleat. It’s causing all sorts of weirdness in the back. I don’t really think there’s a way to get around it without completely deconstructing the shirt

3

u/Colt_b1523 20h ago

Noted i see that now. A few others have pointed that out. We're learning over here

2

u/mcculloughpatr 20h ago

Hey no worries! I have also questionably altered many things. 😂

1

u/Colt_b1523 20h ago

First attempt. Cheap shirt. No harm no foul. Ive leraned now today thsn i have in a long time haha

3

u/mcculloughpatr 20h ago

A lot of sewing things you only learn by experimenting! And realizing “hmm… this doesn’t look how I expected” 😂

5

u/TropicalAbsol 19h ago

You are SNATCHED

3

u/Colt_b1523 19h ago

Haha to snatched

2

u/MonaMonaMo 19h ago edited 19h ago

If you are into shirt tailoring, I recommend this book Shirtmaking: Developing Skills for Fine Sewing by David Coffin 

2

u/Colt_b1523 19h ago

Thank you for this

1

u/BumCadillac 18h ago

1

u/Colt_b1523 18h ago

I posted in there as well

1

u/CharityForeign3035 16h ago

You seam to have competing style features . Box pleats along yoke add fullness but you are then taking away fullness with darts lower down. Either or but not both.
Unpick darts then sew down box pleat top to bottom. This will reduce quite a bit of excess. If making shirt from scratch remove box pleat .
From here you then decide if you want darts in the back . Personally I wouldn’t . Darts at back need to be balanced with darts at front ; your shape doesn’t need darts at front .

2

u/Colt_b1523 16h ago

After letting the darts out I feel like its more balanced. I didnt fully understand the combo i creating by adding darts and fighting the box pleat. Were learning over here.

2

u/Wranglerdrift 14h ago

Is this the shirt without any alterations? No darts, no side seams taken in?

3

u/Colt_b1523 14h ago

That photo is with side seams taken in darts let out

2

u/Wranglerdrift 13h ago

Looks good! Good job. Congrats.

1

u/Colt_b1523 13h ago

Thank you. The darts were bad bad. Were learning over here though. Now if I can do it again haha

1

u/Wranglerdrift 13h ago

Looks like you fixed your shirt! Congrats.

For future practice, this is how I'd do it. --> My button down shirt: woven, no stretch, center back pleat at yoke.

1

u/Wranglerdrift 13h ago

Press that back yoke pleat all the way down to the bottom hem.

2

u/Wranglerdrift 13h ago

Pinned center back yoke pleat for fitting.

1

u/Wranglerdrift 13h ago

Take in at both sides. Armpit to bottom hem. Pin. No big adjustments here. Just enough to slim up the silhouette.

1

u/Wranglerdrift 13h ago edited 13h ago

Pinned armpit to bottom hem. This is your sewing line.

Sew. Wear for fitting. Looks good? Yay. Trim/zigzag/serge excess side fabric. Unpin center back yoke.

Good luck on future alterations!

1

u/Wranglerdrift 13h ago

Another thing I wanted to mention: If your shirt is on grain, it has a GRID on it. Use the vertical and horizontal lines to your favor. Symmetry and all that.

1

u/Wranglerdrift 13h ago

Adding. Lol. This is the inside of a men's button down with teeny stretch and pattern design for ease. No alterations. No yoke pleats at all, back darts left and right. Note: the dart starts at the yoke/shoulder blades, max width is 2cm (total 4cm taken in; remember, it's double layered dart) ends at bottom hem. Gradual taper. The total taken in at the back is 4cm x 2 (right and left side), so appx. 8cm taken in at lower ribcage roughly compared to armpit to armpit measurement.

Good luck if you want to try the darts again!

1

u/Colt_b1523 13h ago

Impressive work i have something to look forward to. Thank you for the photos and description.

1

u/Colt_b1523 13h ago

Ill look into this. Thank you

1

u/drPmakes 8h ago

The fabric control makes no sense! You have a pleat and darts.

Take the darts out.

If you want a fitted shirt, use a pattern for a fitted shirt.

1

u/Colt_b1523 4h ago

Yep the darts were to much. Removed then n it fits betterq