No matter how well designed a pattern may be, it cannot fit each individual perfectly. Each human body has its own quirks, and each person has different fitting needs. You may find that you need to enlarge a pattern beyond the sizes available on the sheet, or you might need to shrink it. Perhaps you would like to reduce a woman’s pattern to fit a little girl. Or maybe you found an out-of-print pattern you’d love to make … but the sizes are too small for you. Anything is possible once you know the basics of resizing patterns! And it isn’t hard at all — it just takes a bit of time and work. I’m here to show you how it is done so that you will never be limited by pre-printed pattern pieces again!
The method for shrinking or enlarging the pattern pieces is similar for each piece. Throughout this section, I will assume you are starting from a size 12 and will show you how to size down one size (to a 10) and up one size (to a 14). From there, you will be able to do all the rest of the sizes!
The Tools of the Trade
Before you begin, I recommend that you have the following tools at hand:
- Cardboard cutting surface with one-inch grid (available at any fabric store)
- French curve(s) — plastic curves to help you trace your armholes, necklines and other curves (you can get these from Sew True)
- Swedish interfacing (available at Birch Street Clothing) or heavy-duty pattern paper (like vellum)
- Tracing paper (available by the roll from architectural supply stores)
- Sharpie markers for tracing
- Pins
- Scissors
Getting Started: The Bodice
First, let’s start with a bodice front. If you want to enlarge the bodice, first trace the bodice piece onto Swedish interfacing or sturdy tracing paper, so you have a piece you can slash for resizing. To size up to the 14, slash the bodice front like this:
Notice that you are splitting down the center of the underarm, the center of the shoulder and the center of the neckline/bust. You will split the back bodice piece in exactly the same manner. Now, the difference between size 12 and size 14 in the bust area is two inches (12 is 34″; 14 is 36″). You want to add evenly to the front and back bodice pieces, which means adding a total of one inch to each piece. Now half that again, since you are adding to only one half of the bodice, and that means you have a total of 1/2″ to add to the bodice front and back pieces. Here is what the pattern piece will look like when you spread it apart:
In your typical Simplicity pattern, the computer splits up the half inch and adds 1/3 of it at each place where the pattern has been split. I do not recommend this! This method often creates a very bad fit, particularly in the shoulder area. The biggest complaint I hear from women over a size 22 is that shoulders on most modern patterns are way too wide for their size. Just because someone’s bustline is larger does not mean she has linebacker shoulders! So my suggestion is that you size the shoulders up only slightly and only for size 18 or 20 (then just keep that new width for the rest of the big sizes unless you do happen to be particularly broad in the shoulders). Same with sizing down — just make them smaller for sizes 10 and under — and only slightly smaller. I’d recommend that you add nothing to the shoulder split to go from size 12 to size 14 (or 16). Instead, add 1/4″ to the bust split and 1/4″ to the underarm split. For size 18, add 1/8″ to the shoulder split, then 1/8″ to the underarm split and 1/4″ to the bust split. Most women find they need more room in the bust — not in the shoulder area.
To draw the newly sized pattern piece, first roll out your tracing paper (not interfacing) on your grid board. Pin the starter pattern piece (in your starting size) to the tracing paper, using your grid lines to help you keep things straight, like this:
Now trace around it so you have your first piece “set in stone.”
Now split your first pattern piece and spread it as I explained above to go up to your next size:
Here’s a close-up so you can see the 1/4″ spread:
Now trace all the way around the spread piece, omitting the shoulder for now, and you end up with this:
Here’s a close-up of how the shoulder and neckline will look:
Now, most patterns add about an eighth of an inch to a quarter of an inch to the top of the shoulder and the neckline, since you assume that larger sizes need more room in the bustline and will need more length in the bodice front. Even this small amount at the shoulder adds a helpful amount to the overall fit of the bodice. Now, you add to the neckline because you added to the shoulder — if you didn’t add to the neckline, it would be lower, and you don’t want to do that.
So, adding to the shoulder looks like this:
Adding to the neckline looks like this:
Okay, let’s go ahead and size down before we talk about some other issues around the neckline and shoulder area.
Pin your split pattern down again, this time overlapping where you had spread the pattern last time, like this:
Here’s a close-up of that overlap:
Trace around this pattern, then “shrink” the shoulder and neckline, so your final pattern looks like this:
Okay, now you’re probably wondering about that shoulder area. The shoulder “moves” a bit with each size, as you can see. You end up with a jumble of lines running from the neckline to the shoulder as you go. If you’ve looked at my patterns (and practically any other pattern on the market), you know that I have one smooth line running from the neckline to the shoulder for all sizes together. That’s because doing things “by the numbers” (which is what a computer design program is going to do) always turns out patterns like that. What you want to learn to do is to smoothly blend the pattern pieces together so that you don’t have a neckline that is “all over the map.” The first way to learn to do this is to trace each new pattern size individually (not on top of the last one). When you have all the pattern sizes traced out, you can lay them down, one on top of the other (largest on the bottom, smallest on the top) and line up the neckline edges so they meet. Then you trace your master pattern off this conglomeration, and it will look something like this:
After you’ve been working on pattern sizing for a while, you’ll just get an eye for how sizing works, and you will not even need to split patterns any longer. You will be able to trace your master piece, then add to it at the appropriate places (armhole, shoulder, side seam, neckline). Splitting patterns and spreading will be your “training wheels” until you become confident enough to just draw out the new sizes using your measuring tape and french curves!
Special Help for Long- and Short-Waisted Ladies
If you are as short-waisted as I am (15″ from nape to waist), you already know that the waistline of just about every average pattern hits you on the hipline. To correct this, there is usually a “Miss Petite” line across the pattern to show you where you can shorten the bodice (or lengthen it if you’re long-waisted). You can do this on any pattern with or without the “Miss Petite” line. Just pick a spot about two inches above the waistline and draw a horizontal line across the pattern, like this:
If you are short-waisted, you can just fold the pattern down at this spot to match your waistline (plus 5/8″ for a seam allowance). If you are long-waisted, you just slash and spread like you’ve been doing above.
For bodices of unusual shapes, like the one in my 1940s “Swing” Dress pattern, you’ll need to tweak a few lines after folding down the bodice. I’ve illustrated this below:
This image shows the bodice as-is with the lengthen/shorten line across the center in red (you can click any of these images for a larger version):
In the next image, you see the bodice folded down to accommodate a short waist. I’ve circled the “problem” area this creates:
As you can see, the long line of the bodice front no longer matches. To fix this, simply use a straightedge to redraw the line so that it runs smoothly from above the shorten line to the lower point:
As you see, this shaves off that problem line that is sticking out, but you still have the continuous line of the bodice front from top to bottom. For the bodice back, you’ll do the same thing. First, here’s the bodice back with the fold line in red and the arrow pointing down to show that you’ll fold the bodice down the required amount for your nape-to-waist measurement:
The next image shows the bodice shortened, and I’ve again circled the “problem” area:
The size lines no longer match up at the side seam, so you’ll once again grab your ruler and simply smooth them back out:
That’s it! Always start at the top and work your way down to keep the sizing accurate, since the size just below the armohole hasn’t been altered in any way by shortening the bodice. By the time you reach the bottom of the bodice side seam, your new line matches up perfectly.
Further Tips for Making a Child’s Pattern
To shrink an adult pattern down to fit a child, you will slash and spread not only vertically, but horizontally, as shown here:
The armhole of an adult pattern is going to be far too large for a child, so you will need to shrink it by overlapping the pattern at the upper line (you can fold, but I think it is easier to slash and overlap). To determine the correct depth of the armhole, measure the child from the top of the shoulder down to her underarm “seam.” An easier way to do this is to find a garment that fits the child nicely (a tailored shirt or dress with a comfy armhole), then measure that from the shoulder seam down around to the underarm seam. Add 5/8″ to the shoulder and side seam for your seam allowance, and there is your front armscye (armhole) measurement. You can repeat this for the back, then just double-check to make sure the side seams of the bodice front and back match correctly. Use your french curve to redraw the armhole curve (which will look a bit funny after you’ve overlapped the bodice at this point!). The old armhole will be a guide to help you see where the new curve needs to go…only the new curve will be a miniature of the old.
The rest of the adult bodice is going to be too long-waisted for a small child as well, so that’s where you’ll use the other vertical line. Just shorten the bodice as you would for a short-waisted woman, taking up as much as is necessary to place the waistline at the child’s waist (or empire waist, as the case may be), plus 5/8″ for your seam allowance. Ta-da!
Make Muslin Your Best Friend!
Now, obviously, testing pattern pieces in muslin plays a very important role here. You want to test your new pattern pieces and fit them to a properly sized mannequin (or yourself or the person for whom the new pattern was made). You sometimes discover fitting quirks (like shoulders that are too wide for the average) when you do this, and you can adjust the toile to fit. When the toile is to your liking, you take it apart and trace it as your final pattern piece.
The Rest of the Pattern
Okay, I can close up this section with a few quick instructions on sleeves and skirts. Skirts are easiest to size up, particularly if you are just using a basic two-piece skirt (front and back). You don’t need to split the skirt at all, just add the appropriate amount to the side seam, like this:
Obviously, your french curves will be your best friend on hipline curves!
Now, for a gored skirt, you only need to add to the gores that have the side seams (side front and side back, usually) until you get up around size 22. At that point, it is a good idea to distribute the amount you’ll be adding evenly between the side seam gore and the center front gore (so the center front doesn’t look ridiculously small in comparison).
For sleeves, you split the pattern piece in three to spread it, like this:
You will add to the sleeve only the amount that was added to the side seam of the bodice, since only the armhole enlargement affects the sleeve. Measure that amount (say 1/4″) and divide it into thirds. You need the least amount added at the curve and the most at the underarm/sleeve seams. On the smallest sizes (6-12), you really don’t need to add to the curve at all — you can just add 1/8″ at the splits on each underarm curve. For the larger pieces where you’ve added more to the armhole of the bodice, you can add 1/8″ to the curve, then divide the rest of the amount evenly between the splits at the underarm curves. These rules apply to any kind of sleeve — long, short, fitted, puffed. Whatever you added to the bodice armhole must be added to the sleeve. Obviously, you can get away with fudging a puffed sleeve, but that won’t work on a fitted sleeve! And, obviously, if you’re making a child’s sleeve out of an adult sleeve, you’ll need to slash horizontally as well as vertically to shrink the sleeve overall.
That is it! It really isn’t hard at all — just work. I freely admit that this is the part of pattern drafting I like the least. It is just “grunt work.” But once you have your final pattern, the sense of accomplishment is immense! There is nothing like a custom-fitted pattern to take your sewing to new heights of accomplishment!
8:09 am
Thanks, this is a great help! I often buy vintage patterns that are beautiful, but just two sizes too small, or vice versa. Now I know how to fit them to me.
4:25 pm
What a wonderful service to all sewers. It takes the mystery out of re-sizing. I am glad to refer my customers to your site to help them out.
3:06 pm
Thank you so much for posting this! I’m upsizing a vintage pattern, and I’ve looked through about fifteen sewing manuals (including old ones from the 1940s) without finding anything nearly as helpful as your website. Thanks again!
2:40 am
This is SO helpful!
Most women in the thirties through sixties did not wear size eighteen like me. The only question now, is figuring out what the vintage size is in modern terms, before I buy them to upsize. because twelve in the sixties and twelve today are not the same. Hmmm.
8:53 am
Hi, Jennifer! Vintage sizes changed radically over the years. Back in the 1910s and into the ’20s, the size was your bust measurement, so you could be a size 36! That was later considered off-putting, so measurements were assigned to a number (like a 36 bust to a 12). As with all patterns, check the measurement chart to see where you line up. Then you’ll be ready to resize from there!
10:13 am
I like three quarter sleeves rather than short sleeves. Can you recommend the proper way to lengthen a sleeve? How do you up-size collar pieces at the neckline after you have up-sized the bodice? One more question, how do you properly reduce a waistline in comparison to the hip? When I get patterns that are appropriate for my hip size I always need to drastically reduce the waist. How is this properly completed? Finally, I am having problems finding quality fabrics. It seems that everything is made to be a quilt. Which is fine if you want to make a quilt but not if you want to make a wool suit. Any suggestions? – Thanks
10:58 am
Hi, Corrine! Here are answers to your questions in order:
1. To lengthen a sleeve, you simply slash it in half horizontally through the middle and spread the pieces apart the amount desired.
2. You size up collar pieces the same way you sized up the bodice — slashing vertically in the center, then vertically at the side curve (which corresponds with the shoulder area). If you have a pattern piece that calls for cutting on the fold, you just back it away from the fold the proper amount, then slash and spread the curved edge (which adds to both sides of the collar, naturally).
3. To see how to grade a pattern for different sizes in two areas, see my Easy Alterations article. While the method is applied there to a Regency gown, the same principles work on other styles. Very few of us are a single size–most of us are one size in the bust, another in the waist, and sometimes yet another in the hips! Grading between sizes ensures a perfect fit.
4. Finally, there are wonderful sources of wool online, including Denver Fabrics, which has a wide selection of wool. Also see my Sewing and Fabric Links for more!
Hope this helps,
Warmly,
Jennie
8:20 pm
This is a great site. The re-sizing information is really helpful. I have lots of vintage patterns that are too small that I can now size up.
10:20 am
Wonderful, thanks for this information. Now all those beautiful patterns I have bought can be made to fit me. i am so excited and cannot wait for my order from you to arrive so I can start upsizing and sewing. Wonderful site.
3:19 pm
Thank you so much for this information. I need the upsizing on top, but still same on bottom of my old patterns and vintage ones I have bought
4:32 pm
Sure thing! Very few of us fit one standard “size” as-is. Most of us need to make adjustments between bust, waist, and hip. See my “easy alterations” article for how to grade between two different sizes on the same pattern.
1:18 pm
I’m glad I found your “Special Help for Long and Short-waisted Ladies”. If I’m measuring correctly, I am 14″ from nape to waist. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a beginner, but I am still trying to understand how to properly shorten a bodice: (I have the 1940s dress pattern)what if I need to shorten it by four inches? How does one keep the proper shape of the bodice’s bottom edges and fold lines while bringing the length down? Folding doesn’t make for straight lines to follow, and I don’t know whether to compromise the material above or below the fold. Help!
2:05 pm
How can I resize a child’s pinafore? The vintage pattern I have consists of only two pieces -one for the pinafore and one for some bloomers. I need to size it down. My pattern is a size 3, but the child I’m making it for is age two; however, she is slim, and her measurements are between that of a size 1/2 and a size one. So, I need to keep the length for it that of a size 2, but I need the pinafore a bloomers to fit her measurements. Any suggestions?
4:53 pm
Hello, Beth!
Without seeing the pattern pieces, it’s a little hard to tell you where to resize, but the principles I’ve given here are the same across all pattern types — you basically just need to take it in by slashing in the center front, shoulder and underarm (then center back, shoulder, and underarm) and overlap the pieces to take up the needed amount. If you’d like to email me some photos, I can give you a little more help on where to slash and overlap.
Warmly,
Jennie
10:23 am
Thank you for your response. What email can I send pictures to?
9:09 am
My local fabric store also sells rolls of that white paper they use at doctor’s offices on the exam table. It’s inexpensive and a good width for tracing patterns. It’s somewhat opaque but sturdy.
9:47 pm
That’s a great idea, Leslie!
11:09 am
I have a size 12 that I wish to reduce to a size 8 only on the neck line, collar, shoulders. It is a vintage pattern #7898 western shirt. If there was a size 10 someplace, that would be great.
Thanks,
Marlene
1:32 pm
Marlene,
You can use my instructions to reduce only that area. If you’ll check my tutorial under “Easy Alterations,” you’ll see how to ease between sizes when you need a larger size on bottom than on top (or vice versa).
Hope this helps!
Warmly,
Jennie
9:49 pm
Just to let you know, your methods are incorrect for pattern slashing and will result in an ill fitting pattern every time. Check out the book Pattern Making by the Flat Pattern Method, http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Making-Flat-Method-8th/dp/0139380930 for a reliable resource on slashing patterns.
9:33 am
Hello, “Me!”
I actually have that book and have used flat pattern-making techniques for years. What is in this tutorial is the result of 15 years of pattern resizing, pulling together several vintage and modern approaches to get a process that requires a minimum of fuss or technical expertise. I have further fitting tips to tweak areas that crop up due to particular body shapes and styles, since no two women are identical when it comes to getting a lovely custom fit.
What I don’t like about a lot of modern pattern sizing techniques is that they add too much room in the shoulders and bust as the sizes go up. This is especially true for plus sizes, which often end up with “linebacker” shoulders–LOL! So the method here is designed to prevent oversizing in key areas. Where ladies do need more room, those adjustments can easily be made during the toile-making process in front of a mirror. I’ve found this especially key for vintage styles that do not fit like conventional modern garments.
Hope this helps, and book recommendations are always good to share. I also recommend Rene’ Bergh’s book, Make Your Own Patterns.
Warmly,
Jennie
4:35 am
How about resizing for busty ladies?
8:17 am
Hi, Moira! I show how to upsize a bodice for “DD” and larger cup sizes in an appendix for my Romantic Era Dress instructions, which you can read online. Or click here to go straight to the appendix.
10:18 pm
My Dear Lady, Jennie:
Thank you for this site. For the past week I have been working on sewing for my Great-grand-daughter who is 5yr. and starting school. I have many vintage patterns (45 years old and older) Is that vintage? The patterns are size 8 and I need to resize down to a size 6…your resizing is very helpful. Thank you. During my week long search I emailed Simplicity and asked them for help, in how to resize a pattern. Today I got a reply that rather shocked me. They told me to take my pattern to Kinko’s and percentage wise make it smaller. I was about to write back and give this adviser a peice of my mind…when I found your site. I think I will still email them back, just so they don’t tell some poor sewer to do that. My gilrs patterns are simple little A line dresses with no waist or sleeves just a simple little dress. Thank you Elaine
1:39 pm
Yikes, Elaine! It is illegal to copy copyrighted patterns, so I cannot imagine Simplicity sanctioning that. You are right! I hope you enjoy this tutorial, and have fun sizing your vintage patterns!
11:11 am
Hello. I have a vintage German pattern for a girl’s dirndl. Mine is for a size 8, and for this particular style, the smallest size that it is offered in is a 4. I would like to size mine down from an 8 for a child who is “between sizes”. She’s probably about a size 2, but her age is actually 3 and her height is on more on par for her age. So, I want to go from a 2 to an 8. I was wondering if you could give me advice on how to resize this. The bodice pieces are the most confusing. When I tried slashing it in three places, I end up with something really weird!
11:12 am
Oops! I meant go from an 8 to a 2!
8:20 pm
Thank you , thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been struggling to figure out how to properly resize patterns! I make cloth diapers and trainers and other cloth products from my own patterns I have created. I create them for my own child, and have been having such difficulty adjusting the sizes up and down for other children. But reading this over makes me realize what I was doing wrong and where I need to put my cutting lines. THANK YOU!!!! Also, now I understand why every dress I resize for my mom in the top has been very ill fitting in the shoulder area! I was following other resizing instructions and they weren’t quite working. I am going to try this out the next time I make her a dress! THANK YOU! I will be recommending you to all my friends!
8:47 pm
You’re welcome, Sabrina! I am so happy to help. Be sure to also see my page of fitting tips, because they address other problem areas (like narrow shoulders, low bust-point, and short-waisted silhouettes). Have fun!
11:26 am
Thank you for putting this up, but I was wondering how would you make a pants pattern larger or smaller would you cut it in 2, the center of the crotch and the center of the waist?
11:43 am
Hi, Peggy! Threads magazine ran a feature on this some time ago. The link to download their free PDF with resizing tutorial is at http://www.threadsmagazine.com/games/spot-the-difference/139-p44. Hope this helps!