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On a relatively uneventful afternoon in the mass AllFreeSewing headquarters (the office), we asked our Facebook fans what free patterns were lacking online.
We expected a variety of answers, but the influx of responses indicating a need for plus-sized clothing patterns was surprising. In response we wanted to open up a discussion about sizing and garment construction to you, our sewing community. Thus begins our #CustomFit discussion series. In a series of posts we’ll cover topics like vanity sizing, tailoring to your body type, and more. Jump in on today’s discussion!
Clothing Sizes
Size can be so taboo; you’ve probably noticed, either from yourself or a friend, a certain degree of shame associated with one’s scope, “I don’t know what size I am, definitely bigger than you!” people will say blushing. Whether because of the safety of their computer screens or a universal feeling of being fed-up, when we asked many women expressed a need for larger sizes when it came to clothing patterns.
For beginner sewists, figuring out your size can be a challenge. Face it; measuring your hips, waist, and then bust is both time consuming and a little tricky. However, it can be even trickier to settle on your size when you’re relying on a retailer’s label. You might wonder why…
Let’s Talk Vanity Sizing
You may have heard of it. Once a size 10 years ago, some women can walk into a store and find that, despite aging and having several kids, they are now a size 8. Unbelievable, since they’ve actually gained weight.
A 2010 article from Esquire points out that over the last several decades, retailers have added inches to their clothing, delivering a smaller size to a happier, though not smaller, consumer. To appeal to the naturally petite, stores have negotiated their expansion by introducing sizes 0 and even sub-zeros. Have you noticed this?
Rather than evoking a response from consumers that demands reality-based sizing, the effect of vanity sizing is generally positive. A 2013 article from Forbes discusses the psychology behind vanity sizing; indicating that even if you know the impossibility of shrinking a dress size after gaining ten pounds, you still feel better from the label.
What to do about Vanity Sizing
It’s important to realize that when it comes down to it, being a size 6, 8, or 14 is all moot. Understand that the labels vary across stores and therefore should not be a part of your identity. What can you do to avoid vanity sizing? Have you forgotten you’re on a sewing website? We’re all about creating clothes that make your feel as good as you look, and part of achieving that comes with sizing. For those of you who are either beginners sewers or refashionistas going off of the continual puzzling off-the-rack sizes, we have helpful tips and tricks on how to size correctly.
Fearlessly find your measurements with the help of these basic and instructional diagrams. Our collection, “What Size Am I? & Other Sizing Woes Solved” will assist you in treating yourself to a wardrobe that fits correctly and consistently.
We are giving away this totally cute pocket book, Pocket Posh Sewing Tips from Andrews McMeel Publishing to one lucky commenter. Want it? Then let’s start our discussion,
Tell us, have you ever noticed your size changes from store to store?
OFFICIAL RULES FOR DAILY CONTEST:
There is a maximum of one entry per person. The entry will be based upon a comment left on this blog post. Duplicate comments will be deleted and are not tallied.
Winner will be selected at random from the comments on this blog post.
Winner will be announced here on the blog tomorrow as well as contacted by the email address provided.
You have until November 25, 2014 at 11:59p EST to leave your comment on the project above. Comments posted after that will not be counted.
Contest open to anyone 18+ in US and/or Canada.
#CustomFit Forecast: The next topic of conversation will be…. November 26th!
Seams and Scissors
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I’ve always noticed it but I never really thought anything of it, it got me in the habit of wearing clothes that are too large. When I discovered sewing and happened upon the idea of buying patterns, I just bought based on my store size. Big mistake.
When I picked up S.E.W: Sew Everything Workshop (Amazing book for beginners), Diana Rupp explained vanity sizing and I had no idea that was how it worked. I took my measurements properly and now I can buy patterns based on my real size.
Not only do sizes change from store to store, they also change brand to brand. Although I am a 24 in most bottoms, I am also a 20 or 22. My tops are 26, but also 24 and 28. I HATE shopping. Shoes are also the same way.
I find much the same as Patti does. Even within one store the size variation is extremely frustrating. My husband would love to buy me some clothes but no longer does for precisely this reason. I don’t dare order on line. … It sends t the only consistent is my uniform. … men’s pants and shirts. Same size no matter which store I go to our order from.
I agree that sizes seem to be shrinking while the clothes are growing. Wish that there was some consistency.
That’s true with jeans. Some allow for a plus size in the hips
While others fit flat bottom people. I know a lady bragging she still wears the same size as when she was in high school 50 years ago. I just didn’t have the heart to tell her she hadn’t stayed the same, that inches were added to the clothing.
I tend to purchase most ready-made clothing by catalog and/or website, and each one’s different. As a teenager learning to sew my own garments, I was a size 16 — with those same measurements, I would range from a size 4 to 8, according to the various size charts. Even if the pattern’s measurements matched, however, I soon learned that there was no guarantee the garment would fit. So I learned to adjust patterns to fit me. Now I use the pattern size number only as a reference point for my tweaking (what’s likely to be closest), so I can minimize the extent of the changes.
Yes, there’s a big difference in clothing sizes. If I want to get into a smaller size, there is one particular store that always accommodates! At most stores, I prefer to grab 2-3 different sizes and hope I find the right fit. Shopping for pants has become a chore. I haven’t sewn but a few pairs of pants but may start doing that more often!
The different brands have their own sizing charts and models…so a specific brand should have the same fit regardless of where it is purchased. I have never experienced a brand that had sizing charts for different retail stores. Learn something new every day!!
I HATE shopping for clothes. I’m not happy with what I make from patterns either. I’m short, I’m plus sized. I have a big stomach and chest. I have muscley legs & almost no butt. Try buying a top and bottom outfit with a build like that. I’m looking forward to this “Fit” series. Maybe I can have some decent fitting fashionable clothes for a change.
I don’t know what size I am anymore so recently ordered a dress form. I’m going to try and remake some of my clothes I’m 64 and like comfort. I’m thicker around the middle then most.
Don’t expect the dress form to fit you! The measurements may be similar for bust, waist and hips but all the other measurements, tummy, shoulder length and slope, length of back from neck to waist, etc will NOT necessarily match yours. As ugly as it sounds, get a friend to make you a Duct tape Dummy. It is an exact copy of your body (lumps and all) because your friend wraps you in duct tape to get the shape. Google Duct Tape Dummy to see videos of how to make one.Then use the dummy to custom adjust any pattern that you choose. As a seamstress friend says “Patterns are only a suggestion.”
Yes, there is great disparity in clothing sizes. There are few petite clothing shops at which clothing is available. If a shop does have petite clothing, there is little choice. I have sewed in my past and do hem garments, but have not made any garment for myself in a long time. I would appreciate your book. I have clothing that needs adjusted.
It bothers me that vanity sizes have the very real chance of excluding more slender or petite women – when even the 0 is too large, what other options are there? It’s frustrating being directed to the Juniors section or stores – I’m a grown woman! I want grown woman clothes that fit!
Pear shape, +++ size, shopping is the pits. Sewing gives you a chance to make it your size. Again there are draw back. Would love to find a dress form that the hips go up to 65″.
This looks like it’s going to be a great series with something for everyone. Now if you can just get all the pattern companies in line with sizing,
I have found that I have shrunk in clothes size even though I have gained some weight. I wish women’s clothes were sized more like men’s. I realize men are closer to being the same in body style compared to women, but there has to be a better more consistent sizing system for women. I am thinking I need to find a good jeans pattern and make my own since I somethines feel I come home and end up almost remaking them anyway! For the prices paid, I should not have to do that. I do have one jeans pattern I bought a while ago and haven’t tried yet. It is supposed to show you how to alter the pattern to fit. I guess it’s time to learn to make “my” size instead of shopping and guessing what size I am.
I’ve recently lost 60 lbs (and still have about 50 to go) so I’ve had the pleasure of going back though all my clothes that I thought I’d never fit into again. I’ve always had a very hourglass figure, but, as I continue to slide through the closet I notice that clothing I wore at a smaller weight is fitting me now and the only thing I can figure is that my body shape has changed just enough to let me into the smaller sizes whether they are 15years old out of my closet or just if the rack at the department store. So in my case I only care about the cut and how it works for me instead of the deceiving number on the tag. I know my measurements and will even shop with my dress makers tape to make things easier.
I have gotten in the habit of only buying clothes from one on-line site. It has eliminated the problem of sizing. I used to make all my clothes but I do so less these days. My hands don’t work as well as they used to.
I agree with Karen J. If all the pattern companies would work with a single standard, things would be much simpler. I got really good at modifying patterns so they always fit me well. Being plus-sized, I was good at taking a pattern which only came in a smaller series of sizes and adjusting it to fit me. I also have certain standards of fit that I could adapt to patterns.
Making all my own clothes was a great morale boost. I could have the look and textures and designs that suit me rather than the commercial makers. To this day I have trouble finding clothes that are not just solid colors or florals (the two most frequent choices) that are interesting and appealing.
This problem has always existed, but usually you could depend on one quality company. We are big NASCAR fans, and the shirts we buy from the official sellers for each driver are very good quality. But 2 years ago when I bought a new shirt identical to the one I bought the year before, but with new design printed on for new sponsor I went in to the bathroom to change my shirt, I couldn’t get it around my bust. And if there is one thing I am positive about, I at the age of 57 have not gotten larger in the bust. In fact I had the same shirt on from the year before. I went back to my driver’s merchandise hauler, and explained the problem. The woman told me that they received the “plates” from the same company as the year before. I already wear the largest women’s size they carry (because of bust size), so the only alternative is to add a strip of color to compliment the colors in the shirt. It doesn’t stop there. If it isn’t to big, for me, it seems to be to small.
I bought a pattern, based on my store size and found that I have to make my clothing two to three sized bigger than those I buy. How frustrating!
I’ve always known that I was different sizes in different clothing lines. It sucks.
It’s very frustrating trying to buy in vanity sizing. I am a short, but not thin woman. If I go to petite sizes it’s to short in the waste I have one breast noticeably larger than the other due to cancer surgery.How do you measure for that? I am very limited on time to shop so confusion in sizing makes me want to scream.
I definitely notice it from store to store and from the inexpensive stores to the designer stores. I also teach fashion and sewing to high school students. Oh how they freak when you take their measurements and then tell them the size they will use when sewing with a pattern.
I hate that they have started with the sub-zero sizes- I tell my students “You are not a nothing and your clothing sizes shouldn’t treat you like that!”
I wish sewing patterns and store bought ready-to-wear clothes had one universal sizing. A number is just a number and we all have brains big enough to figure out lower numbers are for smaller sized people and the number moves up the larger you are. No big deal. It’s not like the size a person wears is based on her IQ or has her weight stitched onto the tag. Clothing manufacturers seem to think we’re so shallow that size number matters and so gullible that we’ll buy an item just to see the tag with a lower number on it. I wish they’d care more about fit.
Absolutely they change from store to store. I can wear one size in one store and there brand name, move to another store and it can be as much as a two size difference. My problem is I can never keep them straight so I have try everything back on as if it was my first time there.
Having worked in plus size retail, I concur that various brands do differ significantly. The best thing to do is find one that has styles you like and stick with it.
Sizing these days is ridiculous! I am 5′ 6″ and vary from 119 to 124 pounds. I have a 25 to 26 in waist, straight narrow hips and solid muscular thighs. I can not find pants that fit. They are always huge in the waist and usually baggy in the hips to fit comfortably in the thigh. Forget skirts, even extra smalls are generally too big. When I was a scrawny 100 pound 13 year old I was a size 7 and now I am a 2. But nothing ever fits correctly in the thighs, hips and waist all at the same time. Patterns are the same even when I go by my measurements. I hate clothes shopping and I don’t know how to alter patterns.
With store clothing, if it fits, the material is uncomfortable. If I like the material, it never fits! I would love to be able to find clothes that flatter, but that’s a lost cause – doesn’t matter where I shop or what sizes I take into the fitting room. And it is even more frustrating to put money, time and effort into making something that looks great on the package or photo, but doesn’t look good on me. Any other “munchkin” shapes out there with the same problem?
Oh the frustration!
Here in the UK it’s just the same. I used to have a retailer that stocked trousers in a size 16p (petite) and they fitted beautifully with perfect width and length. I shopped with them for several years, even picking up stuff in their saies. It was great. Then, of course, they revamped their trouser pattern, making them slightly longer and definitely narrower. No good for me any more! I have tried other retailers and found I can pick up two pairs of trousers in the same size and try them on, only to find one fits and one doesn’t, or, as happened last time, neither fitted as one was too big and one was too small. Aaaaargh!
Anyway, this is going to be the year I learn to make trousers that fit me. Thank you for you guide on taking measurements. I’m sure it will help me greatly.
Same goes for undergarments. Big complaints about jeans and bras but mostly style. I’m 30 yo but I’m plus sized and feel I can only fit into clothing that is styled for women 2x my age. I don’t like dressing like my grandmother. A lot of plus size stores in the last 5 years in Az have moved in that direction. Also plus size patterns are limited in size as well. I measure 54″, 53″, 55″; grading up patterns can be a nightmare.
I agree with all the previous comments about the size-creep in stores, but I’d like to add another problem shopping for clothes — aging: me and millions of other boomers. Why isn’t anyone clothing us? I still like to dress fashionably (though certainly not like a teenager,) but over the years I’ve gotten a bit shorter and a bit thicker through the middle. I believe I still look good and fit for someone in her late 60’s, but the tiny waist is gone and the backside has spread a bit.. So even more than what size I am, I have to keep a keen eye on the style — no fitted bodice, no shirtwaist dresses, no tummy- or hip-hugging tops, but I don’t want everything boxy. I even find that pattern measurements don’t match me. If the bust is good, the waist is too small; if the waist is good, the hips are too big. To get a fit for the biggest part of me, the shoulders are too wide. And so on. Being able to adjust this before making a garment will be a boon for me.
Two years ago I had a breast reduction. My back and neck feel wonderful and I would do it again in an instant. But now I do have to do altering on tummy and sides. these almost always adjusted them selves when I altered for the larger bust. Now I have to make sure the tummy and bottom fit. So anything on fitting is greatly appreciated.