Solving Back Contour Issues: How to Move a Back Yoke Seam

If you caught last weeks video tutorial you’ll know we began a discussion about back contour shaping on a pattern with a back yoke. In that video I shared a method of removing the yoke seam so that you could better understand how to make a standard rounded back adjustment. This week I wanted to talk about the best position for a yoke seam line and how to customize it for your body.

The back yoke is a great styling choice when you have a rounded back because it allows you to shape the back by creating an invisible dart in the yoke seam. This invisible dart, hidden in the seam, has the ability to give you a more refined fit but like a dart the styling will work best if the yoke seam is addressing the most prominent area of the back. If the yoke seam is too high or too low, you may find that you are not achieving the fit you hoped for.

The most prominent area of the back spinal curve usually occur between 2 1/2” to 5” below the base of neck. (That’s about 6 to 13 cm.) On someone with a relatively standard spinal curve, placing the yoke seam anywhere between these points will achieve an acceptable fit. However, if you have more prominent curve in one specific area you will achieve better back fit if the seam line of the yoke is near the apex of that curve.

In the Lila sewing pattern the back yoke seam is located between 2 3/4” to 3 1/4”  ( 7-8 cm) from the neck base depending on the size you choose. If you need to move this position you can remove the yoke seam  and make your rounded back adjustment as I showed you last week and then choose the position of the yoke seam that will work best for your body.

Watch the video to learn how to do just that.

Once you know how to eliminate and move a yoke seam you can refine the back contour shaping of any pattern to better suit your shape. I'd love to know if you found this tutorial helpful. You can always leave your comment below.

All My Best,
Alexandra