Bust for women’s clothing: Wrap the tape around the widest part of your bust. Waist: Measure around the narrowest part of your natural waist. Height for dresses: Stand straight against a wall and have someone measure from the top of your head to the base of your feet. Neck for men’s shirts: Wrap the tape around the neck where the collar of the shirt will sit. Hips: Wrap the tape around the widest part of your hips. Back length and width: Measure from the neck to the waist to find the length and measure across the widest part of your back to find the width. Chest for men or women’s clothing: Measure across the widest part of your chest above your bust. Sleeve length: Hold the tape from the shoulder down the arm as long as you want the sleeve to be. Shoulder length: Measure from the neck to the edge of the shoulder. Upper arm width: Wrap your measuring tape around the thickest part of your arm near the armpit.
For example, if you’re making a simple slip dress, you might need 1 front piece, 1 back piece, and a sleeve strap pattern.
For example, if you’re 6 ft (1. 8 m) tall, make the dress 37 inches (94 cm) long for a mini-dress, 40 inches (101. 6 cm) for a knee-length dress, or 61 inches (154. 9 cm) for a floor-length dress. The straight edge of the paper will become the center front (CF) of the pattern. Make your length mark along this edge.
Refer to the measurements you took to determine where to place the ruler for the shoulder line, bust line, waistline, and hip line.
For example, if your bust measurement was 40 inches (100 cm), divide it by 4 to get 10 inches (25 cm). Make a mark that’s 10 inches (25 cm) from the edge on the bust line. This will make 1 edge of your center pattern piece.
To make the shoulder sit naturally, give the shoulder a slightly downward slope.
You can add a 1⁄2 inch (1. 3 cm) larger allowance along the bottom line. This can make it easier to hem your garment. For example, if your pattern piece is 61 inches (154. 9 cm) long, make the seam allowance line 61 1⁄2 inches (156. 2 cm) long.
For example, the length of the sleeve might be 5 inches (13 cm) long and you’ll use the arm width measurement of 12 inches (30 cm) to determine how wide to make the sleeve.
For example, you might want to cut the front neckline low while leaving the back piece’s neckline high. Label each pattern piece you make so it’s easy to keep track of them.
You could work on a stiff corkboard if you’d like to be able to pin the garment onto the paper as you work.
You’ll be tracing each individual piece so only pin the panel that’s folded in 1/2 right now.
If your garment has sleeves, fold them over the main panel of the item so they don’t stick out. This technique can be used on any garment, but it does work best on simple garments stitched together from basic shapes, such as a tunic, instead of a lined dress with darts, for instance.
If you can’t trace around a seam because there’s another panel of fabric connected to it, you’ll need to fold up the excess fabric or use the tracing wheel. Roll the tracing wheel directly over the garment since the wheel won’t damage the fabric.
For example, write on the piece, “center front piece. " You can also mark any lines that are specific to that piece. For example, draw a curved line to indicate where the neckline meets the fold.
Most commercial patterns use a seam allowance of 5⁄8 inch (1. 6 cm) so use whichever measurement you prefer.
For example, if you’re sewing a basic shirt, you might have a front center piece, back center piece, sleeve piece, and neckline.
If you prefer, place a cutting mat under the pieces and use a rotary cutter instead of scissors.
