Gaping armhole can be resolved by creating darts.  Generally the garment is sleeveless and could have bound edges or could be lined.

It can seem difficult to do if the garment is lined, or has binding.

The most common place I have to put darts is at the front armhole near the bust.

There are a number of ways to approach this alteration.

LINED - The first is to unpick the seams joining the lining (or facing) and taking a dart in each section.  This works in most cases, but where is can come unstuck is if the fabric is sheer.  As the person walks the darts will move separate to each other, and the inside dart can become noticeable.  So the way around that is to sew the two fabrics together.

Lay the garment inside out over the end of the ironing board.  Measure the amount you are going to take in and place a pin through both fabrics, making sure that the fabric is sitting perfectly flat from the top of the garment.  You don’t want to have any wrinkles.

Mark with your tailors chalk from the edge to the pin on the inside lining or facing on both sides.  Measure from the armhole up to each point to make sure you have the same distance for each dart.

Sew a seam from the edge to the finished length of the dart, sewing through both pieces of fabric.  You now have the fabrics joined together, so now you can sew your dart without worrying about the fabrics slipping on you.

BINDING - Folding binding and stitching through the double thickness will create bulk.  In this case I would take the bind to unpick the binding, create the dart and reattach the binding.  It looks neater and the armhole will not be bulking.

Happy altering
Judith Turner