Why Your Handmade Clothes Don't Always Fit You As Expected

Pattern measurements help you decide which size to make, but they can't describe the shape of your body.

Two people can have exactly the same bust, waist and hip measurements while having completely different proportions.

One might have broader shoulders. Another might have a longer torso, fuller bust, narrower back or different hip shape.

A pattern has to begin with a standard set of proportions, whereas real bodies are wonderfully individual.

That's why measurements should be viewed as your starting point rather than a guarantee of fit.

A garment usually needs to be larger than your actual body measurements so that you can move, sit and breathe comfortably.

This additional room is known as wearing ease.

There may also be design ease — extra fullness deliberately included to create the intended style of the garment.

A loose blouse, for example, might contain considerably more ease than a fitted dress.

This is why looking only at the body measurement chart can sometimes be misleading.

Whenever they're provided, take a look at the finished garment measurements too. They can give you a much better idea of how closely or loosely the garment is intended to fit.

Make the same pattern in two different fabrics and you can end up with two surprisingly different garments.

A crisp cotton might hold its shape and create quite a structured silhouette.

A softer fabric with more drape may fall much closer to the body.

Stretch, weight, thickness and even the direction in which a fabric is cut can affect how the finished garment behaves.

This is one reason the fabric recommendations on a pattern are worth paying attention to. They're not simply suggestions about what might look nice — they're often an important part of achieving the intended shape.

Perhaps your bust corresponds to one size, your waist another and your hips another again.

That's extremely common.

One of the great advantages of making your own clothes is that you aren't restricted to choosing a single size and hoping for the best.

Multi-size patterns allow you to grade between sizes, gradually moving from one size line to another to create a garment that better reflects your proportions.

It can feel strange the first time you deliberately cut different sizes within one pattern piece, but it's often far more useful than simply choosing the size closest to your largest measurement.

Fit isn't only about width.

Your body might be longer or shorter than the proportions used to draft the pattern.

Perhaps the waistline sits too high. Maybe a bodice feels slightly cramped even though there's enough room around it. A skirt may flare from the wrong point or trousers may not sit correctly through the rise.

Sometimes what appears to be a problem with the overall size is actually a length or proportion issue.

Those lengthen-and-shorten lines printed on pattern pieces are there for a reason.

It can be tempting to complete a garment and only then properly assess the fit.

By that stage, making alterations can be considerably more difficult.

Trying the garment on at useful points during construction gives you the opportunity to spot problems while they're still relatively easy to correct.

Depending on what you're making, that might mean checking the fit after joining the main bodice pieces, before inserting sleeves, before adding a waistband or before completing hems and finishing details.

A few minutes spent checking can save a great deal of unpicking later.

For a simple, loose-fitting garment, you might decide that making a practice version isn't necessary.

For something more fitted or complex, however, a toile can be incredibly useful.

A toile is a test version of the garment, usually made in inexpensive fabric with similar characteristics to your final fabric.

It allows you to examine the fit, experiment with alterations and understand how the garment is constructed before cutting into the fabric you really care about.

It might feel like you're making the garment twice.

In reality, you may be saving yourself from making an expensive mistake once.

One of the most useful habits you can develop as a dressmaker is recording the changes you make.

Perhaps you regularly need to shorten bodices, alter shoulder width or make a particular bust adjustment.

Write it down.

Better still, keep the altered pattern pieces along with notes about the fabric you used and how the finished garment fitted.

Over time, you're building something incredibly useful: your own personal fitting knowledge.

Instead of approaching every new pattern from scratch, you'll begin to recognise the adjustments you're likely to need.

Learning to fit clothes takes time.

There isn't one magical alteration that suddenly makes every pattern work because every pattern — and every fabric — behaves slightly differently.

But each garment teaches you something.

You begin to understand not only how patterns are constructed, but how clothes interact with your own proportions and how relatively small alterations can transform the way something feels when you wear it.

And that's one of the wonderful things about dressmaking.

You're no longer limited to asking:

“Does this size fit me?”

You can start asking:

“How can I make this garment fit the way I want it to?”