Coat sleeves

[Scot]

Could someone please define "sleeve pitch"? How does a tailor go about establishing the correct pitch and how can one tell when it is wrong?

[hectorm]

I´m not a tailor (nor geometrician) so I´m not going to venture any technical definition here, but I can tell you this: while standing up, your arms do not fall exactly in a perpendicular line to the floor. Your jacket sleeves must be inserted into the shoulder holes in a way that makes them follow your arm´s natural inclination. They need to be rotated forward or backward accordingly. This rotation away from the perpendicular line is called pitch. You can easily notice the wrong pitch because there will be visible tension (i.e. the sleeve cloth might crease or pull at the shoulder or upper arm).

[C.Lee]

You can read about fitting sleeves here:

http://www.cutterandtailor.com/forum/in ... wtopic=427

Chapters 5 and 6.

[Costi]

Scot, swing your arms back and forth with a coat on. When you swing forward, the sleeves will crease in front. When you swing back, they will crease behind. When your arms hang in YOUR natural position, there should be no creasing (i.e. correct pitch of the sleeves).
The natural position of the arms varies among individuals (with posture, conformation etc.), so the pitch of the sleeves needs to be determined individually. During the first fitting (no sleeves yet) the tailor will mark with a piece of chalk on the front piece of your coat the natural position of the front of your wrist, so he knows where the front of the sleeve cuff should hang when the sleeve is inserted. With patterned cloth, sleeves are cut after the first fitting, so that the pattern may be matched precisely. It is not unusual for the pitch of the sleeves to require a slight adjustment during the second fitting.