If I were a better sewer and pattern maker, I’d open a shop that made clothes to fit the client. I guess people do this already, right? I’m not talking haute couture, just a shop with some fabric and some patterns, and the client walks in and orders this pattern shirt in that fabric and I measure her up and make her the shirt.

It’s got to be better than RTW.

Prol’y cost prohibitive for the average consumer, though.

Again, thanks for the comments and the insights.

I’m just wondering if pattern-making people take this concept into account when they make clothing.

We’re not in charge. Pattern makers can only do as our clients or bosses tell us to do.

I am a size medium in the shoulders, with an extra large chest. If I gain even 5 pounds, my chest gets larger but my shoulders don’t! So, my problem — size medium fits me right in the shoulders but the chest is too tight, usually. Size large fits me in the chest, usually, but the shoulders are too baggy. In reading these grading articles, I see the underlying logic is that if one area gets bigger, all areas get bigger (resulting in my medium – large conundrum). But why is that the underlying logic?

From a previous entry:

For example, consumers have the expectation that if they gain weight, they should be able to grab the next largest size in the sequence and obtain a good fit. Unfortunately, that is an unreasonable expectation due to summarizing of study results.

When mass-marketer manufacturers design their sizing specs, they’re looking at the mid-range of any given size. For example, the average size 2 woman is shorter than the average size 8. Manufacturers design grade rules that encompass those height changes… Manufacturers don’t take a woman of a given size and grade up or down to fit that particular woman as she’d go through the various sizing changes. That would mean they’d only be making clothes to fit someone of a specific height but it wouldn’t make sense to do that as people also get taller in the larger size ranges. It’s an issue of proportion. Most people who are heavier, are also taller. If manufacturers are not highly targeted (such as Lane Bryant) they’re going to shoot for the best sizing bets of the market.

The reason is that sizes are weighted according to aggregates of all measures including height. In other words, a general pattern emerges that the average size 10 is taller than the average size 2; that’s just the reality.

In the above entry, I make the argument that women’s upper garments should be sized like bras, encompassing a greater range of women’s chest sizes. Believe me, I feel your pain. Another entry that may explain is Grading is not morphing

…you can’t grade a regular (or a tall or bbw or whatever) into small, medium, and large etc and then turn around and take the same pattern and regrade that regular into a tall with commensurate smalls, mediums, larges that apply to it. It just doesn’t work that way. Grading can only make an existing shape larger or smaller. You cannot change shapes with grading. Going from a petite to a bbw is changing shapes… Grading only makes an existing shape larger or smaller but it does not change the shape.

I am a home sewer and a frustrated consumer of clothes. I don’t know if my comments here are totally off topic, but I thought I’d ask anyway.

I am a size medium in the shoulders, with an extra large chest. If I gain even 5 pounds, my chest gets larger but my shoulders don’t! Same the other way — I lose 5 pounds and my chest gets smaller but my shoulders don’t.

So, my problem — size medium fits me right in the shoulders but the chest is too tight, usually. Size large fits me in the chest, usually, but the shoulders are too baggy.

In reading these grading articles, I see the underlying logic is that if one area gets bigger, all areas get bigger (resulting in my medium – large conundrum).

But why is that the underlying logic? A woman who is a fit size medium in her 20s and 30s doesn’t get larger shoulders as her chest and stomach expand in her 40s and 50s.

I’m just wondering if pattern-making people take this concept into account when they make clothing. I have such a hard time finding dresses and tops that fits, so I’ve just started making my own clothes.

I’ve got the shoulder to bust fit worked out, but now I’m trying to figure out the waist to rearend / stomach to abdomen curves — I’m still getting a lot of bagging in those areas. (This part is purely FYI / chatting, sorry).

Anyhow I love this blog and I’m learning a lot. I have no education in pattern making and fitting, just what I’ve read in books, so I love that I can read what the experts are saying and learn from all of you.

Thanks.

And “Amen” to Penny on plus size grading. Wish I could get together with her over a cup of coffee. Shoulders and armholes are something I definitely have my own ideas on…

Sarah@dosfashionistas

I’m totally old school, still use the Grade O Meter and I do use grade notations. It’s the first thing I do before grading a pattern. After I’ve determined how a style will grow, I go thru and briefly notate the key grade points. Some styles can be difficult to figure out where and how they will grow, so the notation helps to keep it all straight in my brain, so I only have to think it thru once. Sure there are standard grade amounts to follow, but these don’t always maintain the integrity of the styles proportions in conjunction with fit. For instance in dealing with plus sizes where you often have a 3″ grade, it gets tricky especially in the shoulder and armhole areas. And then continuing on past the 3X size, the grade changes again and depending on the style the grade can be different for every size going up. In other words, nothing is written in stone with grading and once you “get it”, it really becomes a matter of fit and personal preference.

Heidi

I’ll admit, I’ve lazy about keeping up with it. But, I think I’m going to force myself to incorporate the notation as a standard. I feel the anthropological evidence is worth the extra minute because it allows others working behind me to know where I’ve been.

[Corporate speak: "business continuity" - ya never know when an Employee is going to win the lottery!]

Thank you again for the insight on this series. I really enjoy your blog. -Rachel