My own yoke draft

[banksmiranda]

I revised my yoke draft, and this one is quite a bit different from the previous one. Â Sorry the pic isn't very good. Â Here it is:

Dimensions: height(at widest point): 3.625 inches width(at widest point): 9.6875 inches height where right and left yoke meet: 1.375 inches length along bottom of yoke: ~9.375 inches height along armhole side: 2.375 inches length along top seam of yoke: 6.5 inches

 

[faustian bargain]

could you explain the process whereby you came up with the yoke pattern, and its modification? i think your DIY spirit is cool.

i notice a slight bend in the top line running across the shoulder - what does this do?

/andrew

 

[banksmiranda]

I'll post back on this shortly - I've got to work on explaining how I arrived at this pattern. It may be a few hours, or even tomorrow morning before my explanation is finalized and posted. I look forward to understanding this myself.

 

[banksmiranda]

I sat down to draft the left side of a split yoke. I started with an 11" x 17" sheet of paper.
On this sheet I drew a box roughly 9.25" (my shoulder measurement divided by 2) x 4" (a generous estimate of the height of the finished yoke). On the lower part of the right side of the box(the place where the halves of the yoke are joined) I marked off a 1.375" line, knowing that this was the height of the midpoint of the yoke that best fit me.

The slight bend in the top line running across the shoulder is there so that the sides of the yoke can match the angle of my shoulders, while the upper/middle portion of the yoke can (hopefully) follow my trapezius muscle and "hug" my upper back. I measured the distance from my shoulder to the base of my neck, which was a little over 6 inches. I drew this line connecting the armhole side to the neckline at what I thought to be my shoulder angle, and the last part of this line I drew at a slightly steeper angle to make the transition from my shoulder to my traperius muscle, which is slightly more elevated than my shoulders. I knew that the 9-plus inch length along the bottom of the yoke couldn't just be a straight line. Rather, it should be a curve extending from the outer seam to the middle, with the middle being elevated relative to the outside in order to closely fit the middle of the back.

 

[banksmiranda]

To claraify: the yoke I previously drafted I discarded and sat down with a plain sheet of paper to draft the yoke seen in this thread.

 

[faustian bargain]

that's pretty neat. you could try cutting it out and taping it on a shirt to get an idea how it fits. (or if you're really wild go ahead and piece together the rest of a shirt torso out of muslin...)

/andrew

 

[banksmiranda]

I joined the halves of the yoke pattern together and laid it out over the yoke of an existing shirt, and it seems that this yoke would be a much better fit.  When I head home tomorrow for the Labor Day weekend I'll compare it with the yoke on my custom shirt.  I may decide to fine-tune it...or overhaul, starting with another blank sheet of paper. At least I feel better about this yoke's possibility of working than that of the previous draft. I sent Ricky this updated pattern, and fortunately he's going to wait until he receives my second draft before starting work on my shirt.