Guides

Everything written on this site. The first three are the foundation — what to measure, what the numbers on the envelope mean, and why the size on the chart is not the size of the garment. The rest deal with specific adjustments.

Measuring yourself accurately for sewing patterns Where high bust actually sits, why the tape must be level at the back, and the six measurements everything downstream is built on. Start here
Why your ready-to-wear size means nothing here Shop sizes and pattern sizes come from different systems that have drifted apart for decades. What the number on an envelope actually indexes. Guide
Finished garment measurements vs body measurements Two different sets of numbers on the same envelope. Which one tells you what you will actually be wearing, and where to find it printed on the tissue. Guide
Ease, and why brands differ so much Wearing ease, design ease and negative ease — and why the same nominal size produces a different garment from one company to the next. Guide
The full bust adjustment, explained Why patterns are drafted for a B cup, how the high-bust measurement tells you what you need, and what an FBA actually adds to the pattern piece. Guide
How to blend between sizes on a pattern piece Where the transition goes, how to keep the seams matching, and the places on a pattern where blending is the wrong answer. Guide
Petite and tall adjustments beyond simple length Height does not sit evenly along the body. Which segments to change, where the lengthen and shorten lines are, and what moves with them. Guide
Choosing a size for knits versus wovens Stretch percentage, recovery, and why a knit pattern is sized against the finished garment rather than against your body. Guide

How these fit together

Fitting a commercial pattern is really four decisions, and each guide covers one of them. Which size to start from, which comes off your measurements rather than the size you buy in shops. How much ease you want, which decides whether that size will give you the garment you pictured. What to do where your proportions differ from the block — the blend, the full bust adjustment, the length changes. And how the fabric changes all of it.

None of them replaces a muslin. A test garment in cheap fabric is still the only thing that tells you the truth about your own body, and everything here exists to make the first muslin start from a sensible place rather than a guess.

To see all of it applied to your own numbers at once, use the pattern size calculator — it reads your measurements against every brand chart on the site rather than one at a time.

General guidance following standard home-sewing practice. Brand size charts referenced across these guides are each company's own published body measurements, reproduced as factual data and linked to their source. Where a pattern company's own instructions differ, follow theirs — they drafted the block. Not professional fitting advice.