Hi everyone,
This was my very first project using free sewing patterns. Luckily, it was just a practice piece made from an old bedsheet.
The shirt is very tight around the armpits and chest, and it is also very short. How can I fix this? Did I make any mistakes when taking my measurements or do i have to change the settings when creationg the pattern? I took them myself the first time, and then a friend took them again for me. The differences between the two sets of measurements were rather small.
Below, you can find some pictures showing the fit. I am loking forward to your input and thnaks alot 
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Hard to say without seeing your pattern pieces and measurements, but I would guess that your shoulder-to-shoulder measurement is too large and your hps-to-waist-back is too small. Definitely check those.
The shoulder measurement should be taken to the point where the seams meet at the shoulders on a well fitted shirt.
Have you added seam allowance to the pattern?
Also, it should be noted that Simon/Simone is on the snug side and almost no one gets the fit they want first time. It typically takes 2-3 mockups before getting the fit you want
Thank you for the response.
While looking through the forum, I found a couple of other people with a similar problem, so I am glad to see that I am not the only one experiencing this 
Here are my pattern measurements—maybe they can help identify any possible mistakes.
Was just about to ask almost the exact question on Simone. Will tweak and try again.
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I maintain my statement that shoulder-to-shoulder looks way too large and that hps-to-waist-back might be on the low side.
For someone of your build, hps-to-waist-back should probably be a few centimetres larger than shoulder-to-shoulder, not the other way around.
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Congrats on your first free sewing pattern! Its certainly worthwhile to double check your measurements for patterns going forward.
For myself, I’d find it easier to make whatever fit adjustments you want to the pattern pieces you have now.
This is what I’d do based upon the images you provided:
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- It looks like the fit across the chest is also a little tight, so maybe add 1" total (+.25" at the front and back across the chest measurement, generally at the base of the armhole).
- to loosen the armhole, drop the front and back armhole by 1-1.5" at the bottom of the armhole. Remember that the back armscye length is a total of the yoke and the back pattern piece when you true it up.
- It looks like the shoulder is too long by 1-3" so you’ll want to shave that amount off of the front, back, and yoke. This means you’d redraw your armscye using a french curve. Since the chest is snug, don’t lose width there when you redraw the armscye.
- When you’ve got your new armscye, then you need to adjust the top of your sleeve pattern. Measure the total armscye by adding front + back + yoke. Then that’s what your new armhole needs to measure, across the top of piece #5. I had to adjust the Simon in a similar way when I sewed it for my hubby, and decided to add the extra space at the top of the sleeve so that the pattern had more of a peak.
- For the length, find where the waist on the pattern is, cut across there on the front and back pieces, and add the amount you want to add (as opposed to just adding space along the bottom of the front and back).
- If you lengthen it at the waist, remember to redraw where your buttons and buttonholes would appear from the waist down.
I marked up the pattern pieces
. Good luck on the next round!
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Thanks alot for the input!
I will try incorparete the tips and see how it goes.
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