Sleeves vs. armhole - working with Tweed
I just recovered from an nasty surprise, while preparing my sleeves and the armholes of my Tweed overcoat:
Originally, my armholes measured around 19 3/4" - after the first fitting and the subsequent modifications, this increased to 20 1/2".
Whilst measuring my armholes for Ep. 36 "prepping the sleeves", I measured 22 1/2" and 23 1/4", while my sleeves measured at 21".
Panic ensued! (I did have enough cloth left to recut the sleeves, but then I would have to tell my daughter she wouldn't get her Christmas dress...) I re-measured the armhole from seam to seam and realised the cloth had started stretching, especially where the cut was on the bias! During fitting, re-fitting and the finishing steps, the armholes and parts of the bodycanvas had slowly started to stretch.
I fixed it by using the "pulling" stitch around the complete armhole, regaining the lost fullness of the Tweed. Tweed is quite…