Tall Men Clothing: Attaching My Shirt Sleeve PICS + New Shirt Muslin!

So here's my latest muslin (no buttons yet, unhemmed), using the pattern Professor B. altered for me on Tuesday. I cut the torso out of my purple gingham, and the sleeves, collar, and cuffs out of the tiny floral.

One problem: Professor B. made the alterations based on the blue cotton-poly shirt I wore to class. I'd attached the sleeves using a 1/2" seam allowance. Based on what I learned yesterday, however, you don't use a full 1/2" seam allowance on the sleeve (detailed below). So the shoulder is still a tad too wide on my shirt -- perhaps more pronounced since the sleeves are a different fabric -- and the sleeve is a bit too long.

Yesterday, I described the method of attaching the sleeve we were taught in class. Below are pics of me actually doing it.

First, with the sleeve right-side up, you fold down 1/4" on the sleeve and edgestitch AT THE FOLD.

Then trim as close to the stitch line as possible (you're cutting off a bit less than 1/4").

Next, take the sleeve and place it on the torso RIGHT-SIDES TOGETHER.

Flip the whole thing over so you have the torso on top and the sleeve underneath (still right-sides together).

Match the raw edge of the torso to the stitched-down raw edge of the sleeve. Pin every 1 1/2". There should be NO EASE between the pins. The two layers should lie FLAT. (Remember, my floral fabric is the sleeve, the purple gingham is the torso.)

Now stitch, lining up the edge of your presser foot with the raw edge of the torso, or approximately 1/4". The sleeve side protrudes a bit, just like you see above and below.

After you've stitched, press the seam allowance TOWARD THE TORSO. No torso fabric (purple) should be visible from under the seam allowance because you stitched them together with the sleeve side a little farther out.

Can you see that the seam allowance is already nice and neat? It's ready to be topstitched.

Before you stitch, measure the width of the seam allowance to make sure that the topstitching will catch the seam allowance. Mine is a hair more than 1/4".

Now, from the RIGHT SIDE, topstitch along the seam ON THE TORSO SIDE, catching the pressed seam allowance (which is, again, approx. 1/4").

Topstitched, from the right side, the shoulder seam looks like this:

From the wrong side, the seam looks like this:

And that's it! I hope that's clear. If not, ask.

As you can see, on the torso, the seam allowance is only about 1/4". So if you've cut the pattern for a 1/2" seam allowance, your shoulder will be slightly too wide. Which is what happened to me. But it's not the end of the world -- it's still a wearable shirt.