Alterations

Mama R hasn't worn this dress since I finished it last fall. Curious, I asked her why.  

"It doesn't fit well" she replies.  

I was puzzled because I used the same modified Vogue dress pattern, Vogue 7836, that I used to made several other versions of this dress.  

"What's wrong?" I inquired.  

"The shoulders are too big" she said.  

She's right. Compared to the other dresses that I have made the shoulders seem bigger than on the other versions. I can't explain why because I didn't cut the shoulders bigger. The only tweaking in that general area was done to the neckline where I trimmed away a bit of the neck opening. I suspect that maybe the weight of the fabric might play a part, perhaps. Otherwise, I can't explain why the shoulders on this dress feel "bigger" to Mama R.  

So how to fix the problem.  

To solve the problem I took in the upper cap of the sleeve, luckily it was not a major alteration.
 This can be done up to 1/2" to solve the problem.
Any more than 1/2" and you will have to remove the sleeve and reshape.  

I basted a new stitching line and Mama R try on to check for fitting.  Now I'm ready to sew.  

With the new sleeve-shoulder seam done I can serge and trim away the excess fabric.

Gotta like simple solutions that work.