Fit comments are a language of their own. They are written fast, often by someone standing in a fitting room holding a measuring tape in one hand and a garment in the other. A fit comment rarely tells you what to change — it tells you what the body is experiencing. "Drop the armhole 1 cm" is not a measurement instruction. It is a clue. The skill is translating that clue into the correct pattern adjustment.
"Drop the armhole X cm"
This means the armhole depth needs to increase by X cm — the lowest point of the armhole (the underarm point) should move down toward the hem. You achieve this by extending the side seam at the underarm. The sleeve cap height must also increase by the same amount, otherwise the sleeve will twist forward at the shoulder. Always adjust both the body and the sleeve together.
"Take in at the side seam"
The garment is too wide at the body, and the correction is symmetric: remove equal amounts from the front and back side seam. If the comment specifies "at the waist" or "at the hip," it is asking for a shaped seam, not a straight take-in. Mark the callout point clearly on your corrected pattern and check that the front and back pieces still have matching seam lengths.
"The shoulder seam is sitting forward"
This is a rotation issue. The shoulder seam, which should sit at the top of the shoulder, is rolling toward the front of the body. The fix is to rotate the sleeve cap forward at the attachment point, or to remove a small wedge from the back shoulder and add it to the front. The amount is usually 0.5–1 cm. It sounds small, but it changes the whole hang of the sleeve.
"The neckline is gaping"
The neckline opening is too large, or the neckband is too long relative to the opening it is meant to finish. If the fabric at the neck is flat, the issue is the opening itself — reduce it by taking out small, equal amounts from the front and back neck curves. If the rib is applied and it is gaping, the rib is not stretched enough during application — shorten the rib cut length, not the neck opening.
"Remove fullness at centre back"
This is often a posture issue. Excess fabric pooling at the centre back can mean the back width is too generous, the shoulder slope is wrong, or the back length is cut for a more upright posture than the fit model has. The correction depends on where the fullness sits: high on the back suggests a shoulder slope or back neck adjustment; low suggests excess back width or a sway-back alteration.
"The sleeve looks heavy"
A sleeve that appears bulky or drops awkwardly usually has too much ease in the cap or the wrong pitch. Reduce the cap ease first — draw it in gradually across the crown rather than cutting width from the sleeve body. If the sleeve twists or pulls toward the front or back, adjust the pitch by rotating the sleeve at the notch before reattaching. Small changes here have a disproportionate effect on the finished look.
Correct the source, not the symptom
The most common mistake in fitting is correcting the visible problem instead of the source. A pulling sleeve may not require a larger sleeve — the issue may be shoulder angle, armhole depth, or sleeve pitch. A gaping neckline may be a rib length problem, not a neck curve problem. Fit comments describe what the body is experiencing. Your job is to find which piece is causing it, and make the adjustment there.