Clothing Measurements
 

I just finished arguing with my daughter about how to measure yourself or someone else for making clothing. I'm not sure if all the points I made were clear enough for her to understand that just because her daughter wears her pants lower on the hip doesn't mean you buy patterns using the hip measurement as the waistline. So I decided to draw up a measurement guide for her so we can get this straight and maybe I can make her daughter something that fits her properly.

So I decided to share this guide in case others are having similar problems explaining it to the younger generation.

Only a non sewer could think that don't need accurate measurements. :D I don't make fitted clothes but stick to elastic waistbands.

Boy , I remember that.

Lately, any patterns I buy seem to have nothing to do with the measurements listed on them. I don't know if something has changed in modern patterns or what the deal is, but it is a pain. I hope your chart helps with your project.

when i was a machine knitter, we had to take all these measurements to knit pants!... yes we even knitted pants. it's like quilters making everything quilty. LOL

Yesterday I decided to try and make myself a dress. I normally wear a 4 petite in ready to wear. My hip measurement translates to a size 16 in the pattern! Accurate measurements are so important. Your chart is good. I would change the word "crouch" to "crotch" though.

Sometimes the confusion isn't in the fit or terminology, it's in the location. I used to work out at a gym that helped people keep goals by tracking their weight, measurements, workout levels, etc. When I went for a weigh & measure, what I considered my waist and what they considered my waist were two totally different areas on my body. I had the same problem with my mother-in-law - she asked me to adjust a skirt waistband, so I measured her and adjusted it. Problem was, she wanted to wear that skirt a lot higher than I had adjusted it for, so it didn't fit the way she wanted it to.

I have a hard time finding jeans that fit correctly - the waist is always far too high on me and I end up with a baggy crotch, even though I am long-waisted. I usually end up wearing a belt and rolling the waist up over it. Makes me wonder how those pants fit the poor creatures with short waists.

Glad you caught that Thanks I will and yes I remember when I did make fitted clothes for people long time ago the hardest part was explaining to them why I needed to buy a pattern larger then what size clothes they were buying in the stores. They have always been different as far as I know.

Peckish, the reason I put "Natural Waist" is this gives you an idea where to measure. The natural waist is the smallest area between your breast and your hips. If you use this as a starting point and then adjust your pattern from there, chances are you will get a good fit.

I am very short waisted and yes I agree that it's almost impossible for me to buy a pair of pants that fit. Most pants that fit my butt usually come up over my ribs. SO I quit buying clothes and make my own. Even shirts are a pain since they hang to long, not what a short person needs. It use to be funny when I was tiny because I could buy a shirt one size larger and then slap on a belt and have me a dress.

I am the one of those short-waisted people! I was thrilled when low-rise jeans became popular because they fit me like normal jeans fit on regular people. They're getting harder to find; when I find jeans or work pants that fit well I will buy 5 pair!!

Plus I'm plenty overweight so I really don't need this big roll of belt and denim making me look even MORE lumpy than I already am!

Also have you noticed that if you buy the next larger size blouse/shirt with long sleeves from what you have been wearing (went from xl to 1x), the length of the sleeve has really increased. I have to roll up the sleeves 2 or 3 times or I've got the cuff at my finger tips.:)

It seems to me that ready made blouses in large sizes means you should have gorilla length arms. Don't they know our arms don't grow longer just because our behind is larger?

Thank for the chart. I've been looking all over for mine since I started a new shirt yesterday.

I bought a size medium pattern but according to their measurements I needed a large so I traced a new pattern 1/4" bigger on all TEN pieces! So far it's working.

Now I wish I could find the envelope (the pattern). I shopped for it a long time ago and got started and realize now I forgot the interfacing pattern. Oops.

I have noticed the very long arms on larger sizes. I want to learn to sew because I'm tired of see-through clothing with cap sleeves, and low-rise pants, etc.

The thing I hate is that they think all fat people are short! All of the shirts I could buy, are way too short. Anything labeled as a tunic length is going to shop at my hip if I am lucky. I am only 5'6" but our family has very short legs and long bodies, so nothing ever fits me (with the exception of Lee jeans, for some reason they fit perfect) sewing for myself is just as frustrating. I need four patterns, or a four size pattern, just to make a pair of pants fit. When my DD was small, I made her one piece, zipper front, jump suits to play in, and had to take six inches off at the hem, and add the same amount to the waist! My biggest pet peeve is large size tank tops are always cut so most of my bra shows under my arms, and I have to either alter them, or wear a shirt over them which defeats the point of wearing a tank top!

As far as waistlines - is the person's waistline parallel with the floor?

Mine isn't - and it is not a commonly shown alteration - it is about three inches lower in front than in the back - so a skirt clinging to the narrow part of my midsection will really droop in front.

Pants are usually really short in the center back and come up almost to my breasts in front. (I did try turning them backwards - but that didn't take care of the problem, either. :rolleyes: )

Most non-sewers do not realize that pattern sizes, especially for women, do not correlate to ready-to-wear sizing.

Also, most adult female patterns are designed for a b-cup bra sized figure.

That's interesting, because when I was getting weighed and measured, they would have me bend sideways, and where I bent was what they called my natural waist. And let me tell you, if my pants went up that high, I would go nuts. I can't stand pants that cover my belly button.

Sometimes I really envy men. Why is it that all they need is waist and length, and pants fit them just fine, no matter their shape???

When my daughter was small she had no hips. If I bought her a 'slim' size pant they came up to her ankles. I started buying her jeans from Sears in the boys department. You could get slim - and order by waist size where girls were more like small-med-large.