Ease is the extra length and width that pattern designers add so that you can move in your clothes. In this episode, we talk about how ease works and how to figure out the amount of ease that YOU like. It’s a game-changer for making clothes that fit! We also answer a listener question about grading between sizes vs. pattern adjustments.
The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.
Show Notes:
From the Listener Questions Section:
- Grading Between Sizes page at Cashmerette
- “Four Essential Small Bust Adjustments” at Seamwork
- “Four Essential Full Bust Adjustments” at Seamwork
- “How to Do a Full Tummy Adjustment on Pants or Shorts” at the Tilly and the Buttons blog
- “Full Tummy Adjustment Tutorial” at the Ellie and Mac blog
- Daphne Maxi Dress by Sewing Patterns by Masin
- Sewing the Curve by Jenny Rushmore
- The Palmer/Pletsch Complete Guide to Fitting by Pati Palmer and Marta Alto
- Pants for Real People by Pati Palmer and Marta Alto
- Curvy Sewing Collective
Previous Episodes Mentioned:
Resources:
- “Understanding Ease” at Apostrophe Patterns
- “How Ease Helps You Nail the Fit of Every Garment” by Linda Reynolds at Craftsy
- “What Sewists Need to Know About Ease” at Love Notions
- “What is Ease and How Much Do I Need?” at Craftematics
- “Functional and Design Ease” at Professor Pincushion
Sewing Patterns:
Transcript:
Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.
Hello and welcome to Love To Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co.
Caroline: I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns.
Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew, and it’s literally all we wanna talk about.
Caroline: Today we are taking it easy. Ease is the extra length and width that pattern designers add so that you can move in your clothes. We’re gonna talk about how ease works and how to figure out the amount of ease that you like. It’s a game-changer for making clothes that fit.
Helen: If you love to sew, this is your show.
Caroline: Hellooo, Helen. How are you?
Helen: Hellooo, Caroline. I’m doing good, thanks.
Caroline: It’s a really sunshiny day in Vancouver today. It’s putting me in a good mood.
Helen: It’s sunny here, too. And when this episode comes out, it’s April 1st, and I love April. One of my favorite months.
Caroline: Oh my goodness.
Helen: It’s my birthday month, so obviously that is a point in its favour, but it’s also just, like, “spring has sprung” month and I love that.
Caroline: I feel like there’s a real missed opportunity. We could have pranked all of our listeners with some kind of April Fool’s joke.
Helen: Oh, you’re right!
Caroline: You’re welcome, everyone, for not doing that.
Helen: Yeah, we’re not that creative, I guess. I didn’t even think about that.
Caroline: No, I know. April 1st. When was the last time an episode came out on April 1st? Who knows?
Helen: We could try to come up with a prank on the fly. Like, “Oh, we don’t like our listeners.”
Caroline: Wow, that was so convincing.
Helen: JK, we love you!
Caroline: There we go. Perfect.
Helen: Okay. Before we get into the episode, as usual, we just wanna remind everybody that the best way to support Love to Sew is by joining us over on Patreon or Apple Podcast subscriptions. You get access to bonus content every month if you subscribe. And we have so much fun catching up with y’all on those more casual bonus episodes. Our last one was like an hour and a half-plus long.
Caroline: Oh my gosh.
Helen: We had a lot to say.
Caroline: Yes. We did have a lot to say in the last episode. We have a lot of fun in those episodes and I’m hoping that y’all will give them a listen, if you’ve checked them out before. But it really does mean a lot if you’re able to support us, even if it’s just for a month or two. And of course, if that’s not in the cards for you right now, we totally get it. Thank you so much for listening and for cheering us on. We love you.
Helen: We love you.
Caroline: All right. Let’s start off this episode with a question. We have a question here from Brooke-Lynn. “Hello from Queensland, Australia! I am getting back into sewing after not touching a machine for 15 years. This is the first time I’m my life I am trying to make garments for myself. I am a plus size woman. For context I have a large tummy, and very small breasts for my size. Think a size 28 on the bottom but a size 18-20 on the top. Making myself tops and dresses is a nightmare. Is it possible to blend that many sizes? Help! I don’t know how to go about making my me-mades fit well. I’m not looking for perfection. Just not too tight across the belly and ideally I’d like to keep my bra to myself. My clothes tend to be a bit… floppy on the top.”
Helen: Oh, this problem is so relatable. Lots of people have to grade between sizes. So let’s get into this. First of all, Brooke-Lynn, I’m really excited that you’re getting back into sewing. I think you’re gonna love making custom fit garments. And learning how is gonna take some effort, but it will be worth it, I promise.
Caroline: Absolutely. And generally, grading between sizes works best if you’re grading between, like, one to three sizes. If you’re working between four or more sizes, it’s still possible, but you definitely want to make a muslin because it could get tricky.
Helen: Yeah. I mean, anyone who’s tried to do that knows how, sometimes, if you try to grade between three or four or five sizes, the pattern pieces start to look real wonky and they get a little bit out of proportion, and that doesn’t always result in the best-fitting garments. I think that pattern adjustments would work even better for you than grading between sizes. Adjustments work in three dimensions while grading between sizes only works in two. So here’s a plan that I think would work well for you: for tops and dresses, choose your size based on your upper bust measurement. That will probably fit your neck and shoulders the best, so your tops won’t be so floppy. And you’ll probably get a better fit at the underarm. And then check if you’re gonna need a bust adjustment to accommodate your chest. If your full bust measurement is smaller than the one on the size that you chose, you can do a small bust adjustment, but I kind of wonder if you’re even gonna need to do that. It sounds like you’ve been choosing tops based on how they fit around your waist. So if you’re choosing the size based on your upper bust, you might not have the problem with bust fitting. I think the main thing you should look into is a full tummy adjustment, also known as a waist expansion or a large waist adjustment. That’s gonna give you more room at the waist while still letting the rest of the top fit you around the shoulders and bust area.
Caroline: And for pants and skirts, you’re gonna wanna choose your pattern based on your hip size. And then you can compare your waist measurement with the one listed for that size. And if your waist is bigger, you can do a full tummy adjustment. If it’s smaller, you can do a small waist adjustment.
Helen: And with all that said, there are some garment types where you won’t need to make any adjustments. So, for example, swingy tops are already larger at the waist and hips than they are at the bust, so you can just choose based on your bust size, in that case. Gathered skirts are not gonna need as many adjustments. You can choose your size based on your waist measurement rather than your hip. And empire waist dresses, especially ones with elastic at the back, like the Daphne Maxi Dress, for example, probably won’t need as many adjustments. Shirred dresses are fabulous, too. They’re really, really stretchy, but they still kind of cinch everything in wherever it feels like it wants to cinch on you, which is really beneficial.
Caroline: And we’re gonna link some tutorials for all the adjustments we mentioned in the show notes, plus some of our favourite fitting books. But we really wish you all the best in your sewing journey, Brooke-Lynn. You can totally do this!
Helen: Yes, and like I said at the top, you’re not alone. There are lots of folks out there with smaller tops and larger bottoms. So also, trying to find a community online of people or even just individual people who have similar measurements and proportions to you would be so helpful.
Caroline: Yeah, for sure. Okay, let’s switch into easy mode now.
Helen: Yeah, let’s take it easy and talk about ease.
Caroline: Oh my gosh, I’ve been joking about this episode with you that it feels like kind of a boring topic.
Helen: How dare.
Caroline: I know, I know. How dare I. But you made a good point recently. You were like, “It’s one of the most essential things in sewing patterns.” And that’s so true.
Helen: Yes, it is. I think it’s really important and also a little bit hard to wrap your head around, as a beginner. So I think this episode is really gonna be beneficial. I, as a pattern designer, get a lot of emails with people who are getting started sewing and they’re confused about the difference between the size chart and the finished garment measurements chart, and “How do I pick a size? What do these two different charts mean and how do they relate to each other?” It might seem obvious if you’ve been sewing for a while, but when you’re just starting out, it’s like, “Wait a second. There’s multiple charts here, and I don’t know if I’m supposed to choose based on this one or that one, or what’s going on.”
Caroline: Yeah. And not to get too ahead of ourselves, but the comparing of the, like, body measurement chart and the finished garment measurement chart is a really great way to get a quick handle on how that pattern is gonna fit. So if you’re seeing the finished garment measurement chart being way bigger than the body measurements, then you know you’re gonna have a really oversized fit. That’s something I came across recently when I was helping my sister-in-law, Adrianna, pick out some sizes for patterns. And we were looking at the finished garment measurements and, like, there was just so much ease. We ended up going down a couple sizes ’cause we were like, “Oh, maybe we don’t want that super, super oversized look.” So it’s a really great way to make that informed decision for yourself.
Helen: Totally. It can make a big difference. Give you that good jumping-off point to start from.
Caroline: Mmhmm. Okay. Let’s start off with a definition of ease. So, ease is the extra width and length added to garments during drafting. And every pattern that you buy has some ease added to it. Patternmakers use slopers, which are basic patterns that have no ease added. If you sewed up a bodice using just the sloper pattern with seam allowance, it would fit so closely to your body that the seams would split if you bent over. So pattern designers add ease so that you can actually move around and live like a normal human being in your clothes. So this is called “wearing ease.”
Helen: Yes. And there’s also another type of ease called “design ease.” This is any ease that’s added to a pattern just for the style of it. So, for example, a circle skirt has a lot of design ease added around the hips so that the skirt is really nice and full.
Caroline: Ease can also go the other way. So, tightly fitted patterns for knits have negative ease, which is length and width subtracted from the original sloper. The stretch of the fabric makes up the difference when you wear it.
Helen: Another thing we wanna mention is: we talk about “easing in” stuff like sleeve caps, which is not exactly the same as what we’re talking about today, but it is related. There’s a little bit of extra width added to sleeve caps so that it’s easier to move your arms when you wear the shirt. There are different methods of distributing that ease so that it fits into the armscye, and that’s what we call “easing in.” And that’s not the only instance of easing in you might encounter in patterns, but it’s one of the most common. If you wanna hear more about those kind of techniques, listen to episode 225 which is “Sleeves.” And we’re not gonna be covering easing in in this episode. We’re gonna be talking about wearing ease and design ease today.
Caroline: Okay, so we’re gonna talk about how to tell how much ease your pattern has, how to figure out how much ease you like. And with this info, you can go a step beyond the size chart and choose the pattern size that will actually fit you best.
Helen: Now that we all know what ease is, let’s talk about how much ease you need or want. So, different fabrics have different ease needs. This is the other variable at play here. You can do all of the research and make your informed decision about what size you’re gonna make, and then you end up choosing a fabric that has some growing that happens as you wear it. Maybe it’s a little more relaxed. Some fabrics are really tightly woven. There’s lots of different styles out there. So, non- stretch wovens that are cut on the grain need the most ease. Bias-cut garments have a little bit of give, so they’re not gonna need as much ease as a woven fabric that’s cut on the grain. And knits and stretch wovens need less eas, in general. They can have zero ease or negative ease, like we mentioned earlier, because the fabric is gonna stretch to fit. The stretchier, the fabric, the less wearing ease you need. And like I said, there’s a whole spectrum in between, of all these different fabrics that have, they just perform differently. They have different characteristics that make them sit differently on the body. And it can be really hard to know right out the gate what’s gonna happen when you actually cut it out of your fabric.
Caroline: It’s so true. I think it is really important to think about the fabric weave when you’re selecting a pattern for a fabric or, like, vice versa. ‘Cause a loosely woven fabric, for example, is not gonna do well with a pattern that has a low amount of ease, because that stress on the seams is just gonna cause them to split, or, I don’t know what it’s called when it kind of, like, opens up a little bit. Like, the threads almost, like, pull apart. It doesn’t rip, but it, like, I don’t know.
Helen: Yeah, I don’t know either, but you can mitigate that by adding a lining or something. But it does take a lot of practice to kind of work with these fabrics and become aware of how they are going to perform in different scenarios.
Caroline: Totally. The type of garment you’re making is also gonna influence how much ease you need. So, for example, a jacket is gonna need more ease than a button-up shirt because it’s supposed to layer on top of the other clothes you’re wearing.
Helen: And wearing ease comes in a broad spectrum. There’s a range because your distribution of flesh might change more or less dramatically as you do things like sit, stand, squat, bend over. Generally, larger sizes need more wearing ease than smaller sizes because of how the bust, waist, and hip measurements change when standing versus sitting. So there’s a lot of factors at play.
Caroline: And another thing which influences how much ease you add is your personal preference. So, designers have ease preferences. Some pattern designers want a super close fit. Others like an easier, slouchier feel. And wearers have preferences, too. So two sewists with the exact same measurements might prefer a different size of T-shirt, for example.
Helen: Oh, Caroline, I’ve been making a lot of pants lately, because we released our Falconer Pants this past month, and I’ve been trying them out in all sorts of different fabrics. And let me tell you…
Caroline: Yeah.
Helen: It is wild, the difference between, like, a really, really tightly woven denim and, like, a looser, really broken-in denim, like a light wash that’s been, like, laundered a whole lot and treated a whole lot and is super soft. I could make an 18 in the softer denim and then I’d have to make a 20 in the tighter denim. Like, it can be a whole size difference sometimes, for how comfortable you feel. And that’s also down to personal preference. But it can be really interesting to compare different fabrics that are, like, seem really similar, but actually perform really differently.
Caroline: It’s so true, and it’s not even that simple, because a really rigid denim that doesn’t have a washed finish to it or laundered finish to it, it will soften over time. Right? So as you wear it and wash it, it’s gonna become looser. So maybe you’ll have wished you made a smaller size and, like, it’s kind of hard to predict what’s gonna happen. And I think it really comes with experience of working with different fabrics and different patterns and learning what you, personally, like.
Helen: Yeah, exactly. And like, especially with denim, where it molds to your body over time. Oh my gosh.
Caroline: Yeah, I know. I, personally, don’t really do, like, super tight jeans anymore. Like, the ones that are like, rib cage high, sucking everything in, so you feel like you can’t breathe when you sit down. Like, I just, I can’t handle it anymore. The hard pants are hard.
Helen: They’re too hard.
Caroline: They’re too hard. The hard pants are hard.
Helen: Well, I will say that a wider leg can make a huge difference in comfortability when sitting in a rigid pant. So Falconer is a little bit tight at the waist and hip, Caroline, but I’d love for you to give her a try, you know?
Caroline: Okay. I hear you. I hear you. And also, you can always size up, right? A pant can always be sized up if you know that you don’t want a really, really tight fit, but you like the look of the pant, or like the design details.
Helen: Yeah, and you make that decision by looking at the finished garment measurements to see how much ease was included in the waist and hip. So you know whether or not it’s something you might wanna size up on. So, let’s talk numbers here for a second.
Caroline: Generally, the minimum wearing ease on woven garments is one and a half to four inches at the bust, one to one and a half inches at the waist, and two to four inches at the hip.
Helen: Exactly. And then, of course, there’s design ease on top of that. So you can have a ton of extra ease just for design purposes, but you do need this minimum amount in order to move around in a woven. And then ease for knit garments is calculated based on the fabric stretch percentage. So for example, a close-fitting knit top might use the following formulas: a 10% stretch fabric could have zero ease. 20 to 30% stretch fabric would have 10 to 20% negative ease. And a 40 to 50% stretch fabric could have 20 to 30% negative ease. The more the fabric can stretch, the more negative ease it can handle.
Caroline: And we’re providing these numbers just so you can get an idea of what pattern designers are working with. You don’t need to memorize them or anything. But I just think it’s helpful to put the numbers out there so that everyone can get a better understanding of what we’re talking about here.
Helen: Caroline, do you have a personal preference when it comes to ease in garments? Is it something you think about when you’re sewing?
Caroline: I do. I mean, I think it does depend on the style of the garment, obviously. Like, I made the Seamwork Otto Vest back in September, before we went to Stitchfest, and that has, like, a pretty close fit. So I wouldn’t want it to be oversized but, generally speaking, I think I prefer something with a little bit more room, especially around the hips and the bust. But then when we’re talking knits? Again, it depends on the garment. I love, like, a tight-fitting t-shirt, like the Carrie Crop Top. But I also love a loosey goosey t-shirt, like the Jackson Tee. It depends on my mood. It depends on the style. It depends on the fabric. So I can’t say I have, like, a specific preference, but when it comes to, like, picking a…I’m like, “I wanna make a loose T-shirt,” then, yeah, I know how loose I want it to be, you know?
Helen: Yeah.
Caroline: How about you?
Helen: I am very much the same. I think it definitely depends on the garment, and I like having some tighter things in my wardrobe and I like looser things. I think you and I both really love voluminous fashion, so, you know, in that case, I find it’s easy to make something like that because you know there’s gonna be plenty of room. There’s not gonna be any major fitting issues when you’re working with, like, a tiered gathered dress or something. You just have to focus on the upper bust and shoulders and the rest is gravy, which is really satisfying. But not everybody likes that kind of style. So if you do prefer more fitted clothing, then ease is something you kind of have to pay more attention to. And then in pattern design, it’s similar. Of course, it’s dependent on the garment. And dependent on feedback, too, over time. If people say, “Oh, this one had a little too much,” “This one had a little too little.” I listen to that and I try to adjust accordingly when I’m making my future patterns and what feedback I’ve received on the past patterns.
Caroline: Yeah, absolutely. I think doing that and, like, fit testing is really important, too. I know you have samples that you wear around as you’re, like, working on a pattern. We do that, too, and I think that’s really helpful to see. Like, “Oh, this is feeling a little tight in the underarms, and maybe when I just did, like, a quick try-on at the warehouse, I didn’t feel that, but after wearing it a few times and moving around and doing errands, I know that it’s not quite right.” You know? So that step in the process, I think, is really important.
Helen: Yeah, totally. I agree.
Caroline: Okay. Let’s talk about how to figure out how much ease you like.
Helen: Okay, we have a little formula for you. Your body measurements + the wearing ease + the design ease = the finished garment measurements. And the same equation can also be said as: finished garment measurements – body measurements = the total ease. So, we’ll be using this formula to figure out how much ease there is in finished garments or in sewing patterns.
Caroline: A good way to figure out how much ease you like is to measure your favourite garments. You can put them on and make little marks at the bust, waist, and hip with an erasable pen, and then take them off and measure the width of the garment at those points. Make sure the garment’s lying flat when you measure it. And if the front is different from the back, which would be true for most woven garments, measure each side separately and then add the numbers together and get the full measurement. And now that you have your finished garment measurements, you can subtract your body measurements to find out how much ease they have at each point. And this will give you a good idea of how much ease you prefer.
Helen: Yeah, this is a really great trick. And you can do this when you’re looking at a certain style. I often recommend this for our Cameron Button Up pattern because it’s one that people make a lot of times as a gift. And so I tell people, “If you’re able, sneak into your partner’s closet, or the person that you’re making it for. Grab one of their shirts that they like and measure that shirt. And that is gonna give you a whole other set of numbers and information you can use when comparing to these charts.”
Caroline: Yeah. That’s so smart.
Helen: So, you can figure out the amount of ease included in a pattern and then use that to choose your size, and it’s gonna give you a better idea of how your garment will fit than choosing your size based only on the body measurements chart. For example, the big four pattern companies notoriously include more ease. So if you know you like your garments more fitted, you can just go ahead and choose a smaller size and get a smaller amount of ease.
Caroline: Some companies will include info about their wearing ease on their pattern envelopes or website. You could even email the designer of your indie pattern to ask them about it. But you could also figure it out yourself. So, if your pattern has a finished garment measurement chart, you can use it with the size chart to calculate the amount of ease included. For example, let’s say a size 22 has a 48 inch full bust on the body measurement chart and a 52 inch full bust on the finished garment chart. 52 – 48 = four inches of ease at the bust.
Helen: And if your pattern doesn’t include a finished garment measurement chart, you can measure the pattern itself. Lay the pattern over yourself to estimate where the bust, waist, and hip points are, if necessary, and then measure the front and back pattern pieces separately. Make sure to subtract any seam allowances from the numbers you get. But that’s gonna be a way that you can actually figure out the finished measurements of the garment, just using the pattern pieces.
Caroline: I will say, this is a lot easier for a simple pattern than something that has a lot of style lines. Like, I’m imagining a bodice with, like, princess seams or a, like, back style line or something, and you’re dealing with, like, six different pattern pieces and you have to measure them all and subtract the seam allowance. It can get a little bit complicated. So yeah, simple patterns are best for this method.
Helen: Yeah, definitely. And if you are gonna just, like, choose a smaller size to get a smaller amount of ease, that can be kind of tricky, as well, because other things are gonna start to scale smaller and so it might not work proportionally on your figure. So try not to jump down like six sizes.
Caroline: Yeah. So true.
Helen: It’s probably not gonna work out. But one or two is usually okay.
Caroline: Sometimes finished garments feel too big or too small, even if you choose your size carefully. So here are some reasons why that might happen. First of all, fabrics perform super differently. For example, drapey fabrics hang close to the body, while crisper fabrics stand away from it. So you could make a pattern in a Tencel twill and love how it looks, and then make the same pattern in cotton poplin and be surprised that it looks so big. So we have some other fabric characteristics that can affect what size you choose.
Helen: Yeah, so a knit with really good recovery, like a cotton with 10% spandex, is gonna fit more tightly than a knit that bags out, like a rayon with 2% spandex.
Caroline: A jeans pattern that looks great in non-stretch denim will look baggy if you make it in stretch denim. And, like Helen said, even all non-stretch denims are not created equally.
Helen: It’s so true. Thick fabrics, like coatings, need a little extra room. So if you did a fit test of your coat pattern with a really thin cotton muslin, then it might feel tight when you sew it up in a really thick wool.
Caroline: Ooh, it’s so true. Also, some fabrics can really grow. Double gauze is notorious for this. I often think about you telling me about the Lawrence Dress, Helen, and how your double gauze sample ended up, like, two sizes bigger than all the other ones.
Helen: Yeah, it’s so true!
Caroline: ‘Cause it’s, like, a tiered maxi dress and it was double gauze and it’s a stunning, stunning sample, and you wouldn’t even really notice from the pictures, but, yeah, it happens. Double gauze grows.
Helen: It totally grows, especially if you do it in a pant or something. And I did a ton of tiers, like, gathered tiers on that one. So it was also really heavy. It seems like a light fabric, but when you throw that much double gauze together, it can weigh quite a lot. And again, this is one of those tricky things that comes down to experience and practice. And we’ve all made things out of a fabric and then afterwards been like, “Oh, this fabric, by the end of the day, is just, like, a hot mess.”
Caroline: Yeah.
Helen: And had regrets. And that’s learning.
Caroline: Yeah, it really is.
Helen: Another reason why you might be surprised by the finished size of your makes is that taking accurate measurements isn’t as easy as it seems. So we do have some tips here for accurate measuring.
Caroline: So if you’re measuring yourself, you want to use a mirror. And then you can make sure that the tape is in the right place all around. If it’s drooping or twisted in the back, where you can’t see it, this will give you an inaccurate measurement.
Helen: Don’t pull the measuring tape super tight around you. It shouldn’t be compressing your body at all. We just want it to be snug.
Caroline: When you measure around your bust, don’t hold your arms away from your body. Wrap the tape around the largest part of your bust, check that it’s laying smoothly across your back, and then let your arms down. As your elbows lay against your sides, you might notice that your bust measurement grows a bit.
Helen: When you’re measuring your bust, wear the bra that you plan to wear with your finished garment, if you’re gonna wear a bra. That’s very important.
Caroline: Yeah. When you measure your hips, your feet should be about 12 inches apart. Wow. Do you do that, Helen? That’s so specific.
Helen: I try to.
Caroline: Really?
Helen: I try to. Well, and also, just relaxing, too. Whenever I’m measuring somebody else, people tend to be very stiff and upright and I have to be like, “Okay, deep breaths. Let’s take a few deep breaths. Let’s relax, let’s shake it out.” Yeah, it makes a big difference. You wanna measure your waist and hips standing, and then again while sitting. Compare your sitting measurements with the finished garment measurements to make sure that it’s still gonna fit when you’re sitting down.
Caroline: That’s such a great tip. And if you’ve had your measuring tape for a while, you might wanna check it against a regular ruler to make sure it hasn’t stretched out.
Helen: Right? All those vintage tapes out there.
Caroline: Yeah.
Helen: And retake your measurements often. Sometimes things change and we don’t realize it. It’s totally natural for bodies to change. You just wanna be sure you’re working with accurate information so that you can make clothes that will fit the body you have now. I mean, I fluctuate all the time.
Caroline: Mmhmm.
Helen: I measure myself all the time because I just seem to fluctuate one or two sizes constantly. So that’s just life.
Caroline: That’s just life. Yep. Another reason you might find the finished garment doesn’t match the intended fit or the finished garment measurements chart is seam allowance. So it’s important to be as accurate as possible with your seam allowances when you’re sewing. If you’re off by even a quarter of an inch, that could add up to an inch or more all around the garment, especially on tighter-fitting garments. So this can really impact the overall size of the garment and how it fits on you. Keep that in mind. I mean, I will say, I’m not, like, perfect with my sewing. And it’s the most important when you’re sewing something fitted. But it can make a difference, like, on a pair of trousers, in the waistband, like, a waistband growing an inch or shrinking an inch.
Helen: Huge. Yeah.
Caroline: That can really change the fit. So it’s important when it matters.
Helen: It is important and, I mean, a positive benefit to this is that we have, usually, a five eighths of an inch seam allowance to play with. So if you’re baste fitting something to see how it fits, you can take things in in all of those little places or let them out in all those little places and it can add up to a lot, overall, in the garment. So you actually have a lot of control mid-sew because of the fact that a little bit goes a long way.
Caroline: Do you always look at the size chart versus finished garment measurement chart when you’re picking a size? Is it, like a, something that you always, always, always do?
Helen: No brainer? I do, but I think that’s the pattern designer in me, too, you know?
Caroline: Mmhmm.
Helen: You know, I wouldn’t base the entire community off of my habits. But I’m always interested to, to find out the amount of ease that’s included. And I do, kind of, have a general idea of the amount of ease I prefer at, like, the chest, waist, hip levels.
Caroline: I do, because I tend to be between sizes a lot of the time, or a different size in my bust, waist, hip, and, like, it’s always easier to just make one size if you can, even though, like, that’s not always possible. But especially with, I love, like, a looser-fitting dress in the hips, and you can usually get away with just going by your bust size, and if there’s enough ease in the hips, like, not having to cut a larger skirt. So often I look at it just so that I can, like, cheat the system a little bit and not have to grade between sizes.
Helen: Yeah, but that’s so smart, though. And a lot of times, like, there’s already built-in volume in a lot of designs, so you don’t necessarily need to worry about having that larger hip measurement. But, yeah, I, I get a lot of emails about choosing size. It’s definitely one of the biggest sticking points for people when they’re getting started on their project. So I hope that this episode kind of gives people a bit more of lay of the land, of where to begin.
Caroline: It’s so true, and that’s such a glorious thing about sewing, is that we’re not prisoners to the sizes that people decide ready-to-wear should be. And we can, like, absolutely customize every bit of our clothes.
Helen: Yeah.
Caroline: And understanding ease is a huge part of that.
Helen: Yeah, for sure. Well, that was super easy, I think, right?
Caroline: Yeah, I’m, I’m feeling pretty at ease right now. Easy breezy. I think we can probably wrap things up.
Helen: We will be linking some additional resources in our show notes on our website if you wanna learn more about ease. It’s also really fun to do your own slopers and then play around with ease, designing your own patterns. So keep that in mind.
Caroline: Yes. Oh my gosh, yes. Definitely. Let’s talk about ease on socials this week.
Helen: Yeah, let’s do it.
Caroline: Let’s have some lively conversations. Let us know how much ease you like or don’t like.
Helen: That’ll be a really funny caption thread. It’s like, “Eight inches.” “Six inches.” “Five and a half inches.”
Caroline: Perfect. Oh, alright. Well…
Helen: Keep it breezy. Easy peasy.
Caroline: Easy peasy.
Helen: Easy breezy lemon squeezy.
Caroline: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Caroline, at Blackbird Fabrics and BF patterns, and Helen at Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co. And we’re recording in sunny British Columbia, Canada.
Helen: You can support Love to Sew and get access to our bonus content by subscribing on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. You even get access to the back catalog of bonus episodes. That’s over 75 hours of Love to Sew. So head to patreon.com/lovetosew or check out our podcast page on Apple Podcasts for more info.
Caroline: You can head to lovetosewpodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, leave us a message at 1-844-SEW-WHAT? That’s 1-844-739-9428. Or send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com.
Helen: Thanks to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant and Jordan Moore of The Pod Cabin is our editor. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next week.
Caroline: Bye-bye.
Helen: Take it easy.
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