Mens linen cotton short sleeve shirt, used for skirt portion of this empire waist dress, bodice is a purchased knit cotton top.

I pieced together the side front panels and converted one horizontal seam into a pocket.

Men’s linen cotton short sleeve shirt, recut to make a women’t short sleeve shirt. Used the front pocket, buttons & button holes and back yoke as is.

Men’s tunic and pants set used as fabric for this women’t blouse.

Various men’s white shirts used as fabric for this 3/4 sleeve women’t blouse with pockets.

I used old cotton sheets to test sew each bodice. I learned a little something from each pattern, but still even with extensive alterations all the sleeves fit too tightly.

The solution came when I looked to the purchased clothes in my closet that fit well. One shirt in particular, from the Sarah Jessica Parker clothing line Bitten – now sadly no more – had a bodice and sleeve that, once I copied it and compared it to the Butterick patterns, had the shape that fit me perfectly and worked in all the armholes of all the patterns without having to gather in ease.

The 3 changes I made to create the perfect universal armhole/sleeve pattern are:

1. On the bodice front and back pattern pieces: Shorten the shoulder seam 0.5″ at the shoulder edge, tapering out to the original sewing line before the underarm curve.

2. On the bodice back pattern piece only: Add 0.5″ to the back shoulder at the shoulder only, tapering to nothing at the neck.

3. On the sleeve pattern piece: Redesign the sleeve cap so that it has less height at the cap and adds a bit in the armhole curve before it dips into the underarm. My sleeve pattern is in yellow underneath the purchased pattern piece.

With these three changes I can now alter any pattern so that the bodice and sleeve fit properly.  Here are three shirts I made using Butterick 4985.

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Upper front pocket and lower front pockets from 5252.

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Yoke curve and sleeve pocket from pattern 5538.

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Additional inner pocket in lining, with twill fabric backing for support.

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Worn with Sleeveless Top and Silk Lace Ponchette.

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McCalls 3341, re-made from a J.Jill tencel skirt, added hidden seam pocket.

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I used a men’s Arrow cotton shirt for fabric. The blouse front was cut from the shirt back, the blouse back was cut from the two shirt fronts stitched together (the blouse back is slightly less full as there wasn’t enough fabric to cut it out completely). The blouse collar was cut from the shirt back yokes stitched together. I used white cotton fabric for the underside of the collar and front facing. The blouse sleeve tabs were cut from the shirt cuffs. The sleeves and pocket were used as is.

Almost all of the shirt fabric was used, just scant scraps remain. I made the smallest size on the pattern, an 8 without alterations.

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