I need advice from people who sew

[Eireann]

I have a shirt that I just love. I tried it on today for the first time in a good long while. You see, the last time I tried it on, it was skin-tight and had to be peeled off.

Today, I discovered that, yay! the yoga is having an effect. It fits.

Except for one area. I guess the yoga has been working wonders on the pectoral area, because I doubt that my bra size has changed. It's tight in that area. I can wear it, but the tightness causes some odd folds above and below.

Can anything be done about this? I have a pair of matching pants, made of exactly the same material, and they're extremely baggy, so is there a way to take some material from the pants and add it to the shirt? I can post a picture, if that will help.

[Shannarah]

Hi, I wold suggest checking out this post,
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=265039.0

but the difference I would do is to taper the inset to a V (narrowing the inset piece to nothing along the seam line as it comes to the part that fits)

If possible, my recommendation would be to go to a thrift store, grab a cheap (even if ugly) t shirt that fits about the same as the one that you want to alter, and maybe another one for the material, and practice on that so that you dont wreck the shirt that you love.
Try to get a donor shirt that is about the same material type as the one that you want to alter.

What I would do is open the donor shirt up the side seam line up to the armpit (or maybe a little bit higher if you want to set in the material under the armpit as well)
Set your machine on a long stitch length and tack in the piece of material.
Try it on, and adjust if necessary
The long stitch length will allow you to unpick easily, and once you have the fit that you want, you can remove the inset for the donor shirt, and use that as a pattern piece for the shape that you need to inset in the good shirt.

Hope this helps

[PepperElf]

that's a good idea - practice on another shirt first.

i also know girls who like to cut up their shirts, such as a slit along the outside of the arm, or a homemade v-neck ... not just for fashion, but to also make room for more ample chests

[auntiem]

I'd get a jersey needle if you can - totally worth it for sewing on t-shirt material.

[Draper Mel]

Hi, I wold suggest checking out this post,
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=265039.0

but the difference I would do is to taper the inset to a V (narrowing the inset piece to nothing along the seam line as it comes to the part that fits)

...

What I would do is open the donor shirt up the side seam line up to the armpit (or maybe a little bit higher if you want to set in the material under the armpit as well)

I would practice first. The issue you're going to run into is that setting in a V shaped piece will increase the size of the armhole. You may be happier opening the seam up into the sleeve and setting in an elongated football shaped piece, probably to run halfway up the sleeve seam and halfway down the side seam. It should probably be no wider than an inch at its widest, which should occur in the bust area. That way you'll add a total of 2 inches to the bust area (1 inch each seam=2 inches total).