Hello,
I made my first two Simon shirts (will post a showcase soon-ish). Before I move on to make more of them, I’d like some help with optimizing the fit.
My main goal is to learn what is a measurement error, and what is how the Simon pattern works, i.e. when I should correct my measurements, and when I should use the advanced design options.
Back Darts
The pattern shows a straight black line which I understand as placeholder for where the dart should be. It doesn’t show the width and curve of a dart.
Is that because my measurements suggest that there shouldn’t be a dart, or does the pattern always leave the shape of the dart to the user?
In order to make my shirt fit, I had to add darts:
Should I always expect adding my own darts (which would be okay too), or is it a measurement issue and I need to re-check my measurements?
Part of it is probably my body shape; I have a slightly hollow back and a bit of a belly, so my waist measurements are not in the same vertical axis as my shoulders and hips when looking at me from the side. Any insights on how Simon might handle that are appreciated.
Sleeve length
I didn’t have enough leftover fabric for my test shirt to make full length arms, so the issue only became apparent in the final shirt: My sleeves were too short.
While I did account for correct seam allowances, I already know that part of it is a wrong measurement; when I re-measured it now, I had to add 2 cm to my initial measurement.
However the sleeves seem more than 2 cm too short for my personal taste. They look fine when I let my arms hang down, but when I move them forward, you can see how little room there is:
So I wanted to ask: if I put in the shoulder to wrist measurement exactly from the shoulder seam to the wrist bone, is that the final length of the sleeve in Simon, or does the pattern add a few cm counting from the wrist bone, so that the cuff ends on the hand itself instead on the wrist bone?
In other words, I would like to know how sleeve length behaves in Simon in order to know whether I need to re-measure, or wether I should play around with sleeve length in the settings of Simon and add a few %
Button placement
I wondered about button placement: on my pattern, the spaces aren’t even. At the top of the shirt, they are narrow, down the body they are further apart, and at the bottom it looks to me like there’s a button missing. In fact I added a button at the bottom for my test shirt and omitted one of the top buttons, and that looks more evenly. When I followed the pattern’s placement (solid green shirt), the lowest button barely sits below my navel.
How is button placement calculated? Are they fitted to the pattern or more of a suggestion, is there a reason there are so many narrowly spaced buttons near the collar?
Thank you in advance for any insights, and I’m looking forward to making more shirts!