Back Yoke
Construction — one of 70 in the glossary
A separate panel across the upper back of a shirt, seamed below the collar and above the main back panel. Cutting the shoulders as their own piece lets the fabric run in a different direction there, which is what allows a shirt to sit flat across the shoulders and hang cleanly from them rather than pulling. On better shirts it is split into two pieces so the grain can be angled on each side.
A panel cut on its own terms
The shoulders are where a shirt carries its weight and where the body's shape changes most sharply. Cutting them as a separate panel lets the maker orient the fabric there independently of the rest of the back.
That is what stops a shirt pulling across the shoulder blades and lets it fall cleanly from the shoulder line.
It also gives somewhere to put the pleats — the box pleat or side pleats at the bottom of the yoke that add room across the back.
Split yokes
A split yoke is made from two mirrored pieces joined at the centre back rather than one piece across.
Splitting lets the grain be angled on each side, which improves how the shirt follows a sloping shoulder and allows pattern-matching at the seam on a striped or checked cloth.
It is more work and more fabric, so it appears on better shirting and is a reasonable quality signal.
For a decorator
The yoke seam runs horizontally across the upper back, exactly where a back-neck or upper-back design would sit.
A print crossing that seam sits on a double thickness with a ridge under it, and the ink deposit changes across the step. Small designs usually go above or below it.
Embroidery has the same problem in reverse: the hoop cannot sit flat across the seam, so placement is chosen around it rather than through it.
Common questions
- What is a back yoke on a shirt?
- A separate panel across the upper back, seamed below the collar. Cutting the shoulders as their own piece lets the shirt sit flat and hang cleanly from the shoulders.
- What is a split yoke?
- A yoke made from two mirrored pieces joined at the centre back instead of one. It lets the grain be angled on each side for a better fit over sloping shoulders, and allows pattern matching on striped cloth.
- Can you print over a back yoke seam?
- Not cleanly. The seam is a ridge on a double thickness of fabric, so the ink deposit changes across it. Designs are normally placed above or below the seam.
See also
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