topic How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress? in Fashion

How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

yarnaholic1963 — Mon, 12 May 2014 19:39:58 GMT

Received my cowl neck dress and love it but the armholes are too big. I'm afraid to order a size smaller because it fits well everywhere else. To those who sew and have this dress, how would you take in the armholes? I sew well but am not very experienced with alterations, but don't really want to take the dress to a seamstress if the alteration is something I can do myself. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

nlwilliams — Mon, 12 May 2014 19:45:10 GMT

Darts, it depends on the fabric, if its knit I wouldn't try it.

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

RedTop — Mon, 12 May 2014 19:59:52 GMT

If the armholes only need to be drawn in a little, I would try taking it in the standard width of a seam for about 2 inches under the arm, and then tapering the new seam into the normal seam. I would baste the seam first and then try the dress on to see the effect, before using a permanent stitch. Good luck!

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

crdlb — Mon, 12 May 2014 20:00:17 GMT

Sometimes all it takes is to take in the sides under the armhole, tapering your seam until you hit the side seam again. Cut off the the excess "triangle" of fabric and resew the facing seam at the under arm. Since I don't have my cowl dresses yet () I don't know if there is a separate facing or if it's just turned under and top sewn. If that's the case, that's even easier to fix since you don't have to resew the facing seam.

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

yarnaholic1963 — Mon, 12 May 2014 20:05:27 GMT

On 5/12/2014 crdlb said:
Sometimes all it takes is to take in the sides under the armhole, tapering your seam until you hit the side seam again. Cut off the the excess "triangle" of fabric and resew the facing seam at the under arm. Since I don't have my cowl dresses yet () I don't know if there is a separate facing or if it's just turned under and top sewn. If that's the case, that's even easier to fix since you don't have to resew the facing seam.

Maybe when you get your dress you can let me know what you think.

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

Kathlen — Mon, 12 May 2014 21:28:01 GMT

Do you have a dress pattern that you've used that has a good armhole fit?

If so - lay it against the dress and see where you have to alter.

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

crdlb — Mon, 12 May 2014 21:41:47 GMT

On 5/12/2014 yarnaholic1963 said:
On 5/12/2014 crdlb said:
Sometimes all it takes is to take in the sides under the armhole, tapering your seam until you hit the side seam again. Cut off the the excess "triangle" of fabric and resew the facing seam at the under arm. Since I don't have my cowl dresses yet () I don't know if there is a separate facing or if it's just turned under and top sewn. If that's the case, that's even easier to fix since you don't have to resew the facing seam.

Maybe when you get your dress you can let me know what you think.

Absolutely, yarny!

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

luvingit — Mon, 12 May 2014 22:02:46 GMT

I am a seamstress. Take off part of facing if there is one under the armhole. Pick open about 5 inches of seam at side seam. Then start sewing at lower part going up toward arm, tapering, it till you have taken in abt an inch. Then reattach facing.. You can do the same to shoulder seam but doing at the underarm will look better I think.

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

yarnaholic1963 — Tue, 13 May 2014 14:44:57 GMT

On 5/12/2014 luvingit said: I am a seamstress. Take off part of facing if there is one under the armhole. Pick open about 5 inches of seam at side seam. Then start sewing at lower part going up toward arm, tapering, it till you have taken in abt an inch. Then reattach facing.. You can do the same to shoulder seam but doing at the underarm will look better I think.

Thank you! I don't think there is a facing, so will try this. Thanks!

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

granddi — Tue, 13 May 2014 22:37:22 GMT

I just tried on my dress and the arm holes are so deep that the side of my bra shows. I was afraid of lumps and bumps showing but it otherwise fits like a dream. The length is just right but sadly it goes back.

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

crdlb — Wed, 14 May 2014 17:53:44 GMT

I got both the pink and the gray in the dress and I love it! I will say that the armholes on the gray are a bit larger than the watermelon version. I might take them in a tiny bit, but it's definitely not a bra showing depth on me. Just a little underarm spillover--sad, but true!

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

yarnaholic1963 — Wed, 14 May 2014 18:11:29 GMT

On 5/14/2014 crdlb said:
I got both the pink and the gray in the dress and I love it! I will say that the armholes on the gray are a bit larger than the watermelon version. I might take them in a tiny bit, but it's definitely not a bra showing depth on me. Just a little underarm spillover--sad, but true!

So how will you take yours in?

Re: How would you alter the armholes on the cowl neck dress?

crdlb — Wed, 14 May 2014 21:01:12 GMT

I'm just going to sew a little ""dart"" under the arm--I only need to take in about a 1/2 in. total. I'll lay it on top of the ""good"" armhole dress and use dressmakers chalk to mark where to sew. It's really easy since there is no facing.