Well, No Wonder!

Sometimes epiphanies are magical moments of superconsciousness, pulling together hitherto undreamed of insights.  Sometimes, however, they may be obtained via an obvious form of due diligence that one has inexplicably failed to perform for a ridiculous length of time.  Like this (Ysolda Teague's enormously helpful compilation of knitwear industry sizing charts):

I blurred the details a bit, but here's the gist:  Bust, waist and hips - medium, progressing gently pear-wise towards large, with a wee bulge in the middle, but nothing that can't be dealt with via a) dietary restraint and a few sit-ups, or b) judicious selection of positive ease and silhouette.  No surprises there. Arm circumference and armhole depth: also medium.  Now here's the kicker: Shoulder width and sleeve length - 3X.  Nape to waist length - off the chart. I was always dimly aware that my shoulders are wide-ish but it's a little shocking to see just how disproportionate they are to the garment industry's statistical norm. (And yeah - I checked it against a few different scales and measurement methods.)

It does explain why the only tops of any kind that have ever properly fit me are either sleeveless or have such widely scooped necklines as to permit the shoulders extra width.  And why my shirts are never ever long enough, and why menswear works so much better for the shoulder/arm fit, even if it doesn't flatter my curves.

What it doesn't tell me is how to reconcile the dream of designing flattering sweaters for myself and writing them up to fit other people, or for that matter, how to make other people's designs fit me.  Sleeve and body length are a no-brainer, but shoulder width that is grossly disproportionate to both torso width and armhole depth could be tricky to configure.  Nevertheless, it's a start - Know Thyself and all that.

Comments

[Katinka]

I can't give you an specific recs, but I wonder if you might find answers in books on sewing pattern drafting and garment construction?

[Jayme]

Maybe I'm doing it wrong or introduced errors taking the measurements myself but...I'm am in no ways line-backer-ish, have never considered myself to have large shoulders and in most ways I'm a small with medium hips, just as I would have guessed. But it is showing me to have 4X shoulders. Maybe your shoulders aren't as bad as you think.

[Jayme]

I just realized this measurement is from the side of the neck to the shoulder, not from the nape of the neck. This got a result that makes much more sense, size small.

[PrairiePoppins]

Have you read Custom Knits? She's got a lot of ideas in there for making top-down sweaters and making them fit. You might like the patterns, or just the information on adapting others' patterns.

[LaurieM]

You could knit yourself men's garments and add in some feminine shaping at waist and bust.

[Stacey]

I just found out the same exact thing about myself. A friend and I each bought the same coat online. We wear the same size. The coat fit her perfectly but was tight through my shoulders and the sleeves were short. I always thought I just had long arms, now I think that my wide shoulders are just taking up some of the sleeve length on my tops. Sigh...

[Beadknitter]

Ruth, you have the opposite problem I have. LOL! My shoulders are really narrow, so the sleeves are always 2 to 4 inches to long. You don't know how many sweaters I knitted for me that didn't fit right until I figured out what the problem is. Sewing books helped me to figure out the adjustments.

[Ivete]

This is really interesting! When I get home I'm going to map myself out on this chart and see what I get.

I think for your particular fit problem, that you might want to try deeper armholes regardless of the shape. I'm assuming you want to narrow your shoulders rather than widen them, so I in the case of set-in sleeves, I'd go with a narrower rather than a wider shoulder width (so that the vertical seam lies further into your body and creates the illusion of a narrower shoulder). You can also try modified raglans where the raglan line is sloped more gradually, so that the seam is more vertical than horizontal (dont' know if that makes sense), which also results in the illusion of a narrower shoulder. My Weekend cardigan pattern uses this type of shoulder (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/weekend-cardigan). HTH, feel free to email me if you want to talk more!

[Cheryl Lee]

Hey.. I'm like beadknitter, I am 5 ft 2 in with narrow shoulders and short arms, not even store bought fits. From the first pattern I had to learn "innovation".
Viva la differance, but it would be nice to be "average" just once..lol

[Gillian]

Interesting information and comments on fit. I too have a narrow shoulder and short arm issue. There is nothing that fits in the bust without being too wide on the shoulders and long on the arms.

[katherine]

I think that the majority of us fall into a range of sizes -- no one single one is ever going to be perfect. I have your arm length, for instance, and I am taller than average, but my neck to waist measurement belongs on a much shorter person. Absolutely, the hands down best book for understanding design and alteration that I've read is Deborah Newton's book on designing knitwear. Lot's of ah-ha! moments in it.