An Armscye (also known as arm scythe) is the armhole opening of the bodice, where the sleeve is joined. If it sounds to you like ‘arm’s eye’ it is no coincidence. That is the original term from which the term armscye evolved.
How to measure the armscye for drafting patterns
In sewing, there are 5 ways of marking the armscye for bodice pattern
1. One method is to measure from the shoulder and neck joint to the armpit. This measurement is used to draft the armhole depth on the pattern. In the drawing given below the measurement A-B taken on the body and then is marked from the shoulder- neck joining point.
2. The other method is to measure the perimeter of your armhole. Start measuring with a tape measure from the shoulder tip point. Then go around the arm joint and back again to the same point. Half of that will be your armhole measurement
3 Another method is to measure the body on the back from the nape point to the chest line just under the arm. From this measure, the slope of the shoulder should be reduced.
4 The next method is to take the bust round in inches. Divide this by 4 and minus 1.5 inches from this measurement ( depending on the ease you want)
So if my bust round is 36 inches When I divide this by 4 I get 9 ; Subtracting 1.5 inches gives you the armscye measure 7.5 inches.
5 You can also go by a fixed armhole measurement based on your bust measurement /chest measurement. You can refer to the charts given below for these measurements. But these may not be the most accurate as these are obviously not your body measurement.
Armscye measurement for women’s bodice
A more fitting armhole
Bust round -Armhole measurement
28 inch – 4 3/4″
30 inch – 5
32 inch – 5 1/4″
34 inch – 5 1/2″
36 inch – 5 3/4″
38 inch – 6″
40 inch – 6 1/4″
42 inch – 6 1/2″
44-46 inch – 7″
48-50 inch- 7 1/2″
Armscye measurement for men’s bodices
How to draft the armscye
Once you have marked the armhole height you can draft the armsyce in two ways. One is to give a little deeper curve to the front armscye than for the armscye of the back bodice. The other way is to use the same curve for the front and back bodices.
Mark down straight from the shoulder tip to the armhole depth line
Mark the meeting point as J. Measure the distance from F-J
Take half of that
Mark this measure (ie 1/2 of F-J) diagonally from J . Mark this as K
Draw a curve touching the points I K & F. This is your back bodice armhole curve.
Move 3/4 inches inside from point J to M. Mark diagonally 3/4 inches to N from M. Draw the front armhole line touching F N & I
How to use French curve scale to give shape to the armscye
Keep the french curve on the spots you have marked so that the curved portion gives you the shape you need for the armscye.
Related posts : How to make pattern for a basic bodice ; How to make a sloper; Pattern making books -recommendations; How to sew a bodice with lining
Thanks for the knowledge
Great job thanks
Videos on how to make measurements will be very helpful. Accurate measurements are the key to saree blouses
Nice work. Thanks
Thank you! Helpful!
Thank you for the information
Thanks so much this is very insightful
Hi. If the shoulder measurements is bigger than the bust… How do you curve for a good fit?
What can I do if my clothe is not straight in armhole?
Thanks so much for this.
Thanks so much for this tutorial, it’s so helpful for a beginner like me. But please is there anyway I can save or download your posts so I can be able to go back to it without using data? Thanks.
Does the shoulder slant affects the chest measurement? Eg my chest is 7.5 inches, when I slant my shoulder by 1 inches I’m left with 6.5 inches. Won’t d armhole too small for me
Hello tolu. You must have slant the shoulder before you cut out the armhole
If ur bust round is 44inch ,divide by 8 that is 5.5 den wen u add 3.5 inches to it that will give u 9 inches. But ma may i ask how is my bust related to my armhole?
How do I add seam allowance if I wish to add a zip on the armscye
Thanks for the enligthment
Hello!
I’m trying to fit a sleeve cap to an armsyce for a tshirt. Both the cap and the armsyce are the same length and yet they don’t fit/meet at the side seam! For some reason the sleeve cap is too short when I pin it on even though its the same lenth as the armscye! Please help! haha, is there any readings on this? I’m finding it difficult to find material. Cheers!
Because the curves are convex and concave they meet at different points. The underarm seam allowance needs to be increased by the amount you need to mame it fit. The other option is to split the sleeve pattern in the middle verticallt by the amont you are short and recut the sleeves.
Thanks to you for this insightful post. God bless you.
Hi Femi
Thanks for the comment
I need to bring the shoulder seam forward but somehow I am lengthening the back armscye more than the 1/2″ that I have moved the shoulder seam forward. I can’t figure this one out!
Thank you for any help on this problem.
Lisa
ma, give us the armsyce measurement for those with bigger bust say 44″ downwards
Thank you very much for this post. I found it really helpful.
How is the armscye depth related to large bust measurements? Does the depth vary proportionately with larger bust measurements?
The bigger your chest the bigger your arm, as a result bigger armscye
Thank you for this guides
The front armsycye is deeper than the front in other to eliminate puff at the front armhole
Please I will like to know why the armscye is deeper for the front bodice than the back bodice armscye
Hi Deborah
We move our arms to the front so if there is excess there will be an unnecessary crease there – this is especially so important for close fitting garments. For loose fitting ones, you can use the same curve for back and front