This is the most common pattern fit correction you see on tee-shirts and short sleeve shirts, but it also appears on long sleeves. It’s super common in menswear and also pops up in womenswear. Obtaining a nice fitting sleeve is so important for the look and feel of your garment.

The problem: peaking/hiking up/winging out sleeve opening. There could be two indications:

1. The sleeve hem is too slanted and hiking up/out on the side.
2. There could be drag lines coming from the sleeve cap going towards the sleeve hem. On long sleeves, it shows as excessive drag lines under the arm.

How to Fix Peaking or Hiking Sleeves

1. Cut open the sleeve cap height and let it drop down to where it looks and feels better.
2. Tape it together and move around a bit to see if it’s still comfortable.
3. Add that amount to the cap height.
4. Reduce the sleeve opening if desired.
5. If you don’t want to cut your sample, measure the amount you want to lower the hemline down to (arrow on the image) and add that amount to the cap height. This is for short sleeves.
6. You may need to lower your armhole to get the new sleeve to fit.

Additional Considerations

When this correction happens, you will likely need to perform other corrections, like:

• Across-shoulder too narrow
• Armholes too high

This way, sleeves won’t become too large.

You might only (or also) need to reduce the new sleeve to fit the existing armhole. This will be discussed in Option 2.

Remember, the higher the cap height, the less arm lift you have. If the garment is for sports and requires full arm lift, you don’t need this correction. Everyday clothes will have a slight angle to the hemline, but not too drastic. The angle may increase for woven shirts. (Some styles like cap sleeves will never be straight.)

Have you ever come across this issue? Ever seen it in ready-to-wear clothes? 😩🥺🤔

This information and more can be found in The Fitting Book. Order your book today through the link below.