How to measure yourself and pick a pattern size

Commercial pattern sizing and high-street clothing sizing are unrelated systems. The pattern number will typically be several sizes larger than the label you are used to, and this surprises and upsets a great many people the first time. It is not a comment on the body; it is two different measurement conventions that happen to use the same integers.

The practical consequence is that you must ignore the number entirely and work from the measurements printed on the envelope. Every pattern company publishes its own size chart, and they differ from each other as well as from shop sizing, so the chart to use is always the one belonging to the pattern in your hand.

Wearing the underwear you would wear with the garment, and ideally with somebody else holding the tape:

1. 1

   Step 1: Bust — around the fullest part, level all the way round

   The tape should be snug but not compressing, and level at the back as well as the front. A tape that rides up at the back is the commonest measuring error.

   You will know it worked when: The measurement most patterns size from.

2. 2

   Step 2: Waist — the narrowest part, not the trouser line

   Bend sideways and the crease is your natural waist. It is usually higher than where trousers sit, and this is the second commonest error.

   You will know it worked when: A repeatable landmark rather than a fashion line.

3. 3

   Step 3: Hip — the fullest part below the waist

   Usually 18–22cm below the natural waist. Include everything, feet together.

   You will know it worked when: The measurement that decides trouser and skirt sizing.

4. 4

   Step 4: High bust — under the arms, above the fullest part

   Skipped by almost everybody and genuinely useful. Where the difference between high bust and full bust is large, sizing by high bust and adjusting the bust separately produces a much better shoulder and neckline fit.

   You will know it worked when: A better upper-body fit than sizing by bust alone.

5. 5

   Step 5: Back waist length and height, if the pattern asks

   Nape of neck to natural waist. Patterns are drafted for a standard height and this is what tells you whether to lengthen or shorten.

   You will know it worked when: Adjustments made before cutting rather than after.

6. 6

   Step 6: Write them down with the date

   Bodies change and remeasuring is a five-minute job you will otherwise avoid.

   You will know it worked when: A record you can trust next time.

Almost nobody matches one size across bust, waist and hip, and the pattern chart will put you in two or three. This is normal and is what grading between sizes exists for.

The other number worth finding is the *finished garment measurement*, which many patterns print on the tissue itself. The difference between that and your body measurement is the ease — the deliberate extra room the designer intended. A pattern with 15cm of ease at the bust is meant to be loose, and sizing down to remove what looks like excess will produce something that does not fit the way it was designed to.

And before cutting the real fabric: make a toile, in cheap cotton, at least of the bodice. It takes an evening and it is the difference between finding a fit problem in calico and finding it in fabric you paid for.