How to Know What Size You Are on a Sewing Pattern
Sewing pattern sizes are not the same as the sizes you purchase at a retail store. They are not even going to be the same from one pattern company to the next. The only way to choose the right size on your new sewing pattern is to measure yourself and use those measurements as a guide.
If you’re a beginner, measure your chest, waist, and hips. Compare these measurements against the size charts you’ll find on your sewing pattern and pick the closest size. If you’re more advanced, choose the right size by measuring the actual pattern pieces.
In this article, I have separated how to choose your correct pattern size into 4 levels depending on your sewing experience and comfort using sewing patterns. Each level builds on the knowledge learned in previous sections and will give you a better overall fit.
Do this BEFORE choosing a pattern size
Forget about sizes for commercial clothing.
In fact, it’s better to forget about sizes altogether since it’s not going to be the same from one brand to the next. Instead, you choose your pattern size based only on your body measurements. The standard measurements that you’ll need to know are your hips, bust, and waist.
Use a tape measure to find your measurements around:
- The fullest part of your bust
- The smallest part of your waist
- The fullest part of your hips (for me this is actually a couple of inches below the hip bones since that’s where my butt is widest)
Write these three numbers down and memorize them, they will be your guide for finding the correct pattern size to work with. If you plan on sewing a lot, it’s a good idea to re-measure yourself every 6 months or so to see if your body has changed.
Another little tip before you start is to pay attention to the measurements that are most important to your garment. For example, if you are making a skirt, you can just ignore the bust measurement since that won’t make a difference. Similarly, if there is an elastic waistband, that means there is a lot more leeway in that part of the pattern, making the waist measurement a little less important when choosing a size than your other measurements.
Level 1: Choosing your pattern size based on body measurement suggestions on the pattern envelope
If this is the very first time you are using a sewing pattern to make clothing, use the size recommended based on your body measurements on the pattern envelope. You can find this chart either on the flap of the envelope or directly above the pattern requirements section.
What to do if you are different sizes
It’s fairly common for your body measurements to fall into different sizes on the pattern. For now, just go with the largest size you measure into so you can be sure the final garment fits. At level 4 I talk a little bit about how to combine two sizes so it works better for your body, but when you’re just starting out, that just adds another layer of complexity.
Alternatively, you can use the most important measurement for the garment. A skirt with free hips will only really need the waist measurement. A flowy shirt really only needs the bust. So don’t forget to take the style of the clothing into account when you’re choosing the best size.
What if your measurements fall in between two sizes?
For most patterns, I recommend rounding down to the nearest pattern size. Most commercial patterns have sizes that run a little large so if you’re between two sizes, the smaller will fit you better. The exceptions are:
- A tight-fitting pattern. Anything that’s tight fitting has less wiggle room for error, so you may want to size up for now.
- Burda patterns. The sizes on this brand tend to run small in my experience.
Level 2: Choosing your pattern size based on the garment measurements
If you’ve made a couple of garments already, you’ll start to realize that the suggested body measurements don’t always give you the best fit. I’ve found that most commercial pattern companies make their patterns on the large side. I frequently find I’m sewing a size smaller than the official envelope recommendation (especially simplicity and McCall’s brand patterns).
You can get a better idea of how the garment will fit you if you look at the finished garment measurements instead of just the recommendations based on body measurements. Unfortunately, these are not always easy to find and aren’t laid out in a nice chart for you.
There are a couple of places to look to find the finished garment measurements:
- The bottom of the pattern envelope. Sometimes you’ll find the bust, waist, or hip measurements on the envelope underneath the fabric section, but not always.
- On the tissue paper pattern pieces. Many modern patterns include finished garment measurements on the tissue paper with the pattern pieces. It will usually be printed on the front pattern pieces (front bodice, front skirt, etc.) at the bust, waist, and or hips.
Don’t forget to take the pattern design into account. An A-line skirt will often be quite loose around the hips, so you only need to find the final waist measurements. The same goes for a shirt that does not cinch in around the waist, you only need to find the finished bust measurements.
Understanding ease and finished garment measurements
Before you pick your size based on garment measurements, you need to understand a concept known as ease (this is a very big topic, so I’m just going over the basics here). If garments were made to exactly fit your body measurements, you would not be able to move. The fabric wouldn’t have enough room to wrinkle and fold as you bend over, move your limbs, or breathe. For this reason, there needs to be some extra length on the finished garment measurements compared to your body measurements even on tight-fitting designs.
The amount of ease you want will differ depending on how tight-fitting you like your clothes to be. The waist doesn’t usually need a great amount of ease (I usually give myself about an inch), but the hips and bust could generally use 2 to 4 inches of extra length around the body.
As you make more garments, you’ll start to get an idea of the amount of ease you like and feel comfortable in. You can also measure the clothing that you already own to see what their measurements are.
Level 3: Measuring the sewing pattern yourself to choose your size
Once you’ve gotten into the habit of using garment measurements to help you choose the right size, it’s a small step to start measuring the pattern pieces on your own. There are two reasons to do this:
- The pattern’s garment measurements are not always 100% accurate.
- You can’t always find finished garment measurements.
Measure your pattern pieces by using a measuring tape and running it across the bust, waist, and hip of the pattern pieces. Make sure to measure front and back pieces, and don’t forget to subtract the seam allowance from your measurements.
Measuring the pattern pieces yourself means that you can also take other body measurements into account. For example, I like to check the shoulder-to-shoulder back measurement of pattern pieces because sometimes I find patterns that should fit are a bit tight on my back.
Now, I’ll be honest and say that I don’t hand-measure every single sewing pattern that I make. If the finished garment measurements are given, I’ll usually trust them unless it’s a tight-fitting pattern that needs to fit perfectly. I also always measure Burda patterns. I’ve come across multiple Burda patterns where the printed finished garment measurements were off, so I just don’t trust them anymore.
Level 4: Using two different pattern sizes
By this point, I’m sure you’ve realized that copying just one pattern size is usually not going to get you the perfect fit. You might be lucky, but most people do not fit squarely into any standard pattern size. My hips are always a full size bigger than my bust and waist. If I were to choose the right size for my upper half, it would be too small overall. But choosing the size to fit my hips, makes everything too big on top.
The solution is to use two different pattern sizes together. Since most patterns come in multiple sizes nowadays, this is a fairly easy adjustment to make.
Say you want to combine a size 10 waist with a size 12 hips. Place a dot on the seamline of the waist at size 10 and the hips of the size 12. Then just draw in a curved line connecting those two dots. Add the seam allowance, and you’ve got your new cutting line. Everything at the waist and above will be size 10, while everything hips and below will be size 12.
Don’t forget to adjust all pattern pieces that need to be adjusted, including both the front and the back pieces of the pattern.
If you’re unsure which size to make, create a mockup
If you want to test your size before cutting into your nice fabric, you can always make a mockup first. You can use cheap fabric or even old bedsheets to make it. I’ll usually skip the detailed elements when making a mockup. I won’t add facings, pockets, or finish seams so that the process goes faster and I can get started on my final garment as soon as possible. If you’re a beginner this is also a great opportunity to practice your basic sewing skills.
