Default SIM textures leave gaps - how to fix?

[cmramlow]

So I followed Atani's awesome guide here: Guides - A guide for Sim textures | Virt-A-Mate Hub (virtamate.com) to see if the default sim could help the sweater more realistically fit the shoulders and other places of her upper chest and, well everywhere else as there's about a noticeable inch gap between the sweater and her skin:

Here's the default SIM that leaves gaps:

And when I copied the red color from Atani's example red image overlaying upon the original SIM there's no change, the gaps remain:

I've even tried to adjust the core distance and other settings on the clothing item but then more body and boob poke through occurs. Can anyone please advise what's the best way to lessen the gaps with a SIM texture?

I'm sure it's possible since when using no SIM there are not gaps whatsoever, but of course it looks terrible as it sucks to the chest grossly:

Any pro tips are very much appreciated - thank you

 

[Origin69]

Did you try lowering the surface offset in the adjustments tab?

 

[cmramlow]

I had mentioned that I had tried that yes.

 

[Sally Whitemane]

You sure this is not just a to low red value?
Used a color picker on the sim texture where I assumed the shoulder part is.
Got red value 228.

From my experience that should be 253 to lower the gap and still be simulated.
253 was the highest before the clothing sticks to the body -> smallest gap.
Avoid 254 & 255. A small gap will always be there if cloth is simulated free with red < 254.

Attached a modified texture where red peak is raised to 253 with a linear curve.

Site note: 1305 x 1273 is a weird texture size. Not sure if you used it like that or it somehow got resized. Would avoid non square and stick to 1024x1024 to avoid potential problems.

 

[cmramlow]

@Sally Whitemane Didnt get a notification on your reply for whatever reason. Thank you very much Sally! I'll give this a try but I'm sure it's what I was doing wrong