Why Are Pattern Sizes Different to Ready to Wear?
If you’ve ever made clothes from a pattern, you’ll have probably noticed that pattern sizes don’t seem to correspond very much with clothes that you might buy on the high street.
I think probably lots of us have experienced this at some point. We’ve bought a pattern and cut out the pieces assuming that the sizing is going to be the same, only to discover (possibly too late!) that the sizing is all wrong and the thing is too small.
I did this a few years ago when I bought a pattern online. To cut a long story short, I could only find the pattern in sizes 8-14, assumed it would be okay and it wasn’t. I let the seams out and abandoned the darts but it was still too small! In the end I patched in some extra fabric. It was wearable, and I did wear it until recently when I had a hulk moment while lifting Cosmo up and it tore.
How Much Of a Difference is There?
When I made that dress, I was surprised at just how too small it was. The fact that letting the seams out didn’t add even nearly enough extra to get it the right size still made me wonder several years later.
Just how much of a difference is there between pattern sizes and ready to wear sizes?
On further investigation, I have discovered that the difference between the same sizes in patterns and ready to wear is huge!
The average size of a woman in the UK is a size 16. With ready to wear clothes, the measurements for a size 16 are approximately:
Bust 41 inches / 104 cm
Waist 33 inches / 85 cm
Hips 43 inches / 108 cm
A size 16 on the back of a pattern is:
Bust 38 inches / 97 cm
Waist 30 inches / 76 cm
Hips 40 inches / 101 cm
As you can see, the measurements on the pattern are at least 7 cm smaller. This is easily going to be the difference between something fitting well and not being able to do it up!
Why Are the Sizes Different?
Standard dress sizes came in during the 1950s. They changed in the 1970s, and as time has gone on, sizes have gradually got larger.
I’ve seen this referred to as vanity sizing, implying that sizes are larger so that people don’t feel bad about being bigger. However, I suspect it has just as much to do with changing body shapes and the average size of women today.
Back in the 1950s, people were not only slimmer, they were generally smaller.
Post war rationing ended in 1954, so a woman who was 30 in 1954 would have spent most of her life living at a time when there was less food. This would have affected not only her weight but her overall growth.
Serious childhood illnesses were much more common, which would also have affected growth.
There were less cars and people walked more. Mums walked their children to school and, without labour saving devices like hoovers and washing machines, housework was a lot more physical. Now, women tend to drive or use public transport to get to a job that may often involve a lot of sitting down.
So people generally are bigger and dress sizes reflect this.
But pattern sizing has not changed in the same way. Although ready to wear sizing has got bigger, pattern sizes have stayed the same.
So a size 16 on a pattern is a 1950s size 16, not a modern size 16!
Why Don’t They Just Update the Sizes?
Updating the sizes so that they are more in line with modern dress sizes might make things easier and cause less confusion.
But there are actually good reasons why this hasn’t happened.
When I go clothes shopping (not often, I usually have kids in tow which makes it a nightmare!), I actually don’t know what is going to fit and what isn’t. I could be one size in one shop and a different size in another. Even in the same shop I can’t be sure that I’ll be the one size!
This is because the sizing isn’t standardised.
Here, patterns have an advantage.
Even though the pattern sizing bears no relation to modern day dress sizes, at least they are consistent.
If you are a size 20 according to a pattern, you’ll be a size 20 on all the patterns. This is because all pattern sizes are based on one set of measurements. So the problem I had when I bought a pattern online and I wan’t sure about the sizing wasn’t a problem at all! I could have looked on any pattern and it would have given me the information I needed.
How Do I Get the Right Size Pattern?
To get the pattern in the right size, you just have to ignore the sizes and go by the measurements, and try not to feel depressed if the pattern says you’re a size 22! Remember, they didn’t have much food thanks to rationing and they would have been shorter as well!
To check your measurements, use a plastic tape measure and measure yourself around the bust, waist and hips. This is easier if you have a friend to help you. Don’t measure yourself over your normal clothes. Leggings and a vest top or a fitted t shirt is best.
If you’d like more tips about taking measurements, there’s a post about this here.
How Do I Make it Fit?
Even if you check your measurements against those on the back of the pattern, getting things to fit isn’t always straightforward. You might find that you’re a bit wider round the hips, or generally rounder with less waist (I know about this one!).
If you are more than one size, mark the adjustments on the pattern pieces before you cut them out. If you are a size 16 waist but a size 14 hips, then join the size 16 waist lines to the size 14 hip lines with a pen.
It’s important to remember that sizes are just a guide. They don’t allow for us all being individuals with different bodies. The best way to make something that fits, however you go about it and whatever size you are, is to keep trying it on and adjust it to fit your own body.
This is all good and well but just as in your example, a lot of patterns cut out well before they could possibly fit an average woman. what us e is that?
Thank you so much for this clear explanation. It has been many years since I used a pattern but am determined to make a dress. Fortunately I am an avid label reader so have bought the right size range but was feeling a bit confused. Now I understand!
BW Amanda
(almost old enough to remember rationing )
i want to make ready to wear pttern. can you suggest any book or something. i make pattern from measurement but i have no idea how to make ready to wear pattern.
Well, I should have read this before cutting the “L” size out on the pattern. Looked at the sleeves and thought it was way too small, which my tape-measure confirmed. One small blessing is that I haven’t started cutting the fabric out. But…will I have enough?? 🙁
Could you get some more? Or rearrange how the pieces are laid out? Hope it works out x
At last someone to explain what has been confusing me. I am about to make a dress to wear at a family wedding and have been really unsure about what size to cut out. Thank you so much. Really helpful.
Thank you, this is very helpful and clear.
I wish I had found this post several years ago. This was expressed very well and in simple enough terms for someone new to sewing to grasp. My own journey would have been significantly easier had I had this crucial piece of info in such a beautifully succinct format.
I had the opposite experience. I used measurements on pattern and the top I made was tons too big for me?
That’s odd. Some of them have changed to reflect how women’s bodies have changed, ie bigger and taller. Did you use inches instead of cm? Or maybe it was the seam allowance? Just thinking about what I would have done!
Thank you so much for this article. In two years (lockdown) I’ve put on three stone, I was a size ten before and now a size 14/16 and nothing looked good on me,I’ve been so depressed about it all. Then I had the brainwave to make some clothes that would fit me properly and hopefully make me feel better. So I ordered a pattern and out came my dusty machine. But upon measuring and comparing to the pattern I was a size 22 ! It grounded my, literally, everything went in the bin, fabric, pattern… the lot. And I spent the whole evening in tears. I’m so grateful for your article, I’m going to try again now with this new knowledge, maybe not with the binned pattern as it’s now buried beneath tea bags and potato peelings.
Many thanks
Diane
Hi Diane, I’m all in favour of salvaging things but it sounds like the bin is the best place for it. I think lots of us gained weight in lockdown and it’s hard to lose it. The Colette patterns are pretty good and are the sizing is closer to ready to wear. Otherwise circle skirts are easy and they look nice on most people. All you need is your waist measurement and an idea of how long you want the skirt. I’m happy to chat about it via email if you want to [email protected].
So fed up with not being able to find ready to wear jeans that are NOT sized for ‘curvy’ women, leaving me with odd pouches of fabric on the thighs, tummy and bottom, that I decided to take the plunge and make my own. But because I can’t get a standard (shop) size pattern the result was just a huge waste of money, time and materials and still no jeans. So frustrating when you learn a lot of new techniques (made my very first fly!) but still can’t wear the results. I do get your point, but for the less experienced sewer it would be great to find a standard size pattern that you know will fit without having to wrestle with complicated measurements and the dreaded ‘ease’ !
I guess the thing that makes it difficult is that we are all different sizes in the first place, so any kind of standard sizing won’t work for everybody, hence starting with your own measurements rather than a pattern. It is daunting though, especially if you are a less experienced sewer.
For very slim people, sometimes pattens described as “Misses” are better.
This is so useful – I thught I was going mad when I just measured myself as 16-20 US size when I usually wear a UK size 12, occasionally 14. Unfortunately all the patterns I bough only go up to US size 14 so glad I hadn’t actually started cutting anything.
It’s crazy isn’t it, I wondered how I’d managed to put on so much weight in such a short amount of time!
Over the past year I’ve lost weight and sizes went down. I’ve altered some things I’d made and decided to make others, but it is discouraging when my waist is a 16 and hips 20, when I can wear a 12 ready made. Doing a little digging sheds light on this issue. Thank you for the information. (I’m in the US)
Thank you so much for a clear explanation. I wear a 4 in US sizes, made a pair of pants. They might fit a Barbie doll.
ARRRGH! Just getting back into trying to sew and ordered vintage patterns for tops. Have been pretty slim until quite recently but now buy 12s ready-made. I had no idea about the pattern sizes and now have 4 patterns that are too small even at 14. This does make me feel wiser (if poorer). Thank you from Tennessee USA
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Jalie. All the sizes, in one pattern. Then, YouTube search Nancy Zieman, for instruction on fitting exactly you, with a sewing pattern. I’d write it all off as too much trouble but outstanding beautiful fabrics…
Thank you so much for this article. I just measured my waist for my first ever sewing project and turns out I need an 18 when I’m normally a 14 in shop bought clothes. Felt really upset about it all evening.. Until I read this!!
It is depressing the first time that happens. At least you checked first! It’s also worth remembering that we’re taller too, so we’re bound to be wider x
Actually I’m finding the opposite (regarding paper patterns). Even the patterns sold now in the UK are annoyingly in US sizes (plus a weird measurement called ‘European size’, which also bears no relation to measurements). Not having quite registered that, I made my daughter a nice size 14 top, and it was like a sack, because it was a US 14 i.e. a UK 18. The only saving grace was that it turned out she was pregnant soon after so she wore it all through her pregnancy!
The whole thing is a minefield! The only real solution is to check measurements first with a tape measure, then check the back of the pattern, although you can’t always if you buy them online x
Very nice bit of information. It certainly makes much sense and helps me feel better about digging into my projects. Thank you.
I’m pleased you found it useful
Thank you for you article. I’m hoping to get back into dressmaking and now I will look at the sizing. Would have given up if first project failed in size.
Wow… i feel so relieved. My first pattern ever told me to measure my bust and said I was a 20. (I buy a size 12 for skirts and trousers and a 14 (sometimes 16) for tops). I am going to give it another go now, thanks to you…
It’s a shock isn’t it when the pattern people tell you that you’re a totally different size!
That makes perfect sense. I did not even take that into account. Thank you!
Thanks for stopping by Jennifer 🙂
This makes me feel so much better about myself. we all know that a 10 in top shop is a 6 in Monsoon but I hadn’t realised dress patterns were quite so different. Things I make have sometimes been a little more snug on the hips than I would have liked!
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I’ve made things that have been snug everywhere!
and then there is ease – is the fit loose or on stretch fabric negative ease- it is all complicated but with practice it becomes easier
Yes, goodness, I didn’t even touch on ease! I agree that things get easier with practice xx