I finally saw what a dropped shoulder sleeve pattern does to a boxy top

I drafted a basic tee for a client 6 months ago and tried the old set-in sleeve, then re-cut it with a dropped shoulder and the whole silhouette went from frumpy to relaxed in about 30 minutes of sewing, has anyone else found that one pattern tweak changes everything?

2 comments

2 Comments

samthompson2h ago

Have you tried messing with the shoulder drop amount? I had a similar thing happen with a basic linen top I was making for myself, I just kept adding a bigger drop each time until the sleeve hung just right. For me it was like a 4 inch drop that finally clicked, it went from looking like a weirdly shrunken sack to this effortless, drapey thing I actually wanted to wear. The whole key was also cutting the sleeve head a little wider so it didn't pull at the armhole. It's such a small change but it really does make or break the whole vibe of a boxy top, I think we all need to just play around with it more.

the_sandra1h ago

Wait, so when you say 4 inch drop, is that the total drop from the natural shoulder point down to the actual seam? Because I've been messing with this on a cotton poplin top and getting hung up on whether people include the collar or not in that measurement. I got a 3 inch drop on mine but the sleeve still pulls at the chest, think I should just go to 5 and see what happens? The wider sleeve head tip is interesting too - are you cutting it like a gradual curve or more of a straight line off the edge?