To get through this awful weather, let alone all the other stuff, I am going through my closet and either figuring out how to fix items I never seem to enjoy wearing, or donating them. I have had a J.Jill denim looking shirt for some time. Every time I wore it, it pulled at the front neck line and I spent too much time yanking down the front collar. I knew that what was the problem: as I have aged, my shoulders have rounded and I needed more room in the back of the shirt from the back neckline to the yoke……luckily it had a yoke.

The 3 photos below give you the story. #1 look at the drag lines around the neck. #2 look how far back the shoulder seam is compared to where I have marked in photo #3.

First, I looked through my fabric stash and found a plaid metallic linen that would work since I could not reuse the existing yoke.

I removed the yoke, leaving the collar, front, parts of the sleeve, and back open for a new yoke piece. I made a simple paper pattern of the old yoke. Then I made a slash across the back of the paper from the fold line to the seam line where the sleeve would be sewn onto. I opened this slash up about 1”, taped it down to another piece of paper, straightened the fold line, and finally added additional length to the neckline so the new yoke piece would sit farther forward on my shoulders.

Here is the finished product. The drag lines are almost gone around my neck, the shirt collar is sitting on me more comfortably, and I like the look of the new yoke. Not really difficult, just took some time, but most likely less time then trying to find something else in a store. If you are having similar issues, email us and we will work with you to see what can be done to fixing your favorite garments. Happy Sewing.