Jersey sleeves (continued)

Let's take a look at both sleeves (for woven fabric and for jersey) side by side one more time:

 

I put a horizontal red line to show how much taller the sleeve for woven fabric is (the sleeve on the left); and a vertical red line on the sleeve on the right shows how much wider the jersey sleeve is. Note, that jersey sleeve, the one on the right , is shown as half sleeve, you have to mentally double the difference in width.

So, why the length from the center of the neck on the back, over the shoulder and down the arm for the jersey garment is planned less than for the woven fabric?

Part of it might be that the jersey fabric qualities are different from the qualities of the woven fabric. Jersey fabric is more fluid, has more drape and stays closer to the body.  And part of the shortening of the sleeve might be compensated by the stretch in the shoulder width. 

Another quality of the jersey fabric (as well as hand-knit fabric) is two-way stretch. Two-way stretch means that the fabric may be stretched both vertically and horizontally. RTW industry, always aiming to cut costs, tries to save money by cutting sleeves shorter. If you are cutting one garment, than 1" in length is not a big deal for you; if you are cutting by the thousands - it translates into many yards and additional garments, that is money savings.

But, and it is a really big but, my everyday experience and common sense tell me that it is not so simple with the two-way stretch as RTW people want us to believe. 

First, I know that what you gain in width, you lose in length and vice versa.   It means, you can't cut the sleeves shorter in hope that they will stretch longer to the size. 

Second, my experience tells me that knit fabric tends to stretch more width-wise than lengthwise. And, as it stretches in width, it loses in length. I do own a number of T-shirts that became too wide and too short for me to wear comfortably. 

And third, we tend to stretch our clothes horizontally as we wear them. As you put on your T-shirt, you stretch it horizontally, just think about your movements for a moment; you do many more horizontal movements with your arms than vertical ones; and so on. Even with woven fabric I have noticed that sleeves and pats legs tend to become shorter with wear. So, for me it just totally doesn't make sense, other than cost cutting attempt to make sleeves in knit fabric shorter than in woven fabric. 

If anyone can give me good reasons why sleeves in knit fabric are to be cut sorter than in woven fabric, please, do so. I'm always open to discussion. 

Another possible reason to  make jersey sleeve caps shorter and the sleeve itself wider is putting sleeves and the body of jersey fabric together. It is easier to sew in flattened,  lower sleeve cap than a tall sleeve cap. This means less skilled workers are required.

Then, as I studied the sleeves side by side, I got one more puzzling surprise.
Looks like it's never going to stop.