Sewing: Pattern Sizes

One of the first things that I teach in my beginner sewing workshop is that the size that you buy in a ready-to-wear store has absolutely NO correlation with the size that you will need for a pattern.

Not only is there no standard for sizes in ready-to-wear, one of the cool things that you may run into is something called "vanity sizing": if you can afford to buy something at one of those very expensive clothing stores, you will find that you fit into something that is sized much smaller than an ordinary store would have. The key is to make you feel so good about shopping at the very expensive store that you will continue to shop there. Marvelous marketing.

But if you purchase a pattern based on that size, you will be disappointed.

The various pattern manufacturers do appear to be standardized (and I'm referring to those whose pattern catalogues you will see at your local fabric store: McCall's, Simplicity, Butterick, Vogue, Burda, and perhaps others). The rest of this article will talk about McCalls sizing.

An important place to start is where McCall's defines their pattern sizes. There are two places where you can get that information:

• The back pages of the McCall's pattern book at the fabric store.
• The McCall's web site.

Once you have the measurements, then you have to figure out which size McCall's considers you to be. Be forewarned: this is usually a larger number than the size of the garment you buy in a store. In some cases, this number is so objectionable that people will decide not to sew their own garments! But you have to remember - this is just a number. Honest!

There are three or four possible size ranges that your body measurements will fit into. The different ranges that McCall's has (according to the website) are Junior, Misses and Miss Petite, Women's and Women's Petite. The pattern catalogue also shows a Half Sizes range.

From their website:

• Junior for the young miss figure, about 5'2" to 5'5" in height without shoes.
• Misses’ for well-proportioned, developed figures about 5'5" to 5'6" without shoes. Miss Petite about 5'2" to 5'3" without shoes.
• Women's/Women's Petite for larger, more fully mature figures. Women's about 5'5" to 5'6" without shoes. Women's Petite for the Women's figure about 5'2" to 5'3" without shoes.

For women, McCall's has the most variety of patterns for the Misses size range. (I wonder if they realize that Baby Boomers also sew!)

With your own body measurements handy, go to the detailed descriptions of the pattern ranges, and highlight your specific measurements on the charts.

• Junior
• Misses'
• Women's

Select the size that appears to be most compatible with your measurements, and note where you might need to make alterations.

For example, if your bust and waist say size 10 but your hips say size 12, and you are making a blouse, then get the size 10 pattern, and alter it to accommodate your hips.

But if you want to make a skirt, then get a size 12, and alter it to accommodate your waist - or get a size 10 and alter it for your hips.

Of course, you might be one of those people like me whose measurements go across several sizes (I am pear-shaped, so to get something that fits my bust means that it's going to be really snug in the hips). Fitting a non-standard body is not something that can be covered in a short article like this.

Blatant self-promotion here: I am a Palmer/Pletsch Certified Fit Instructor, and I can help you with your fitting issues - I prefer to do that as a private class, but I also offer a seminar on fit.