THE Q & A SERIES
Selecting a size for the Acton dress
Hello,
I am about to get started on the Acton dress, but am feeling a little bit confused.
My measurements are as follows:
Bust 84cm
High Bust 80.5cm
Waist 72cm
Hips 89cm
I have no idea how to select the right size based on my measurements.
I'm hoping that you can help.
Thank you
Hi there,
I am excited to hear you will be working on an Acton dress! This is a timely question as I have Actons on my mind, as we just released a new sleeve expansion for this pattern!
Getting started
It might be helpful to print the size chart so you can circle / highlight the size according to your measurements, as you work through this process. Alternatively, jot down your measurements and write the corresponding size / sizes next to each one as you work down the list.
1. Start with your high bust measurement
When selecting your size based on your measurements it will depend on the style of the garment. For the Acton dress, you need to select your size based on your high bust measurement. This is due to the fitted nature of the bodice. Generally, when selecting your size for fitted styles that involve the upper half of your body, you are best off selecting a size based on your high bust measurement.
With a high bust measurement of 80.5cm, this puts your measurements in a size C.
You then work your way down the column for that size and check if your other measurements sit within the same size bracket. For most of us, they won't, and that's not a problem! This is the joy of making your own clothes. You can make them to fit your body!
2. Work out if you need to do a bust adjustment
Your bust measurement is 84cm, but the pattern is drafted for an 86cm bust for size C. This means that your bust is 2cm smaller than the pattern. Due to this, you may choose to do a 2cm Small Bust Adjustment. We have tutorials about how to do both a Small Bust Adjustment (SBA) and a Full Bust Adjustment (FBA) on our website, if you'd like to take a look.
3. Look at waist measurements
We then continue to work our way down the column. Your waist measurement, at 72cm, is 1cm larger than the size C, but with the amount of ease in the waist of the Acton dress, this will not be a problem.
Ease is the difference between the body measurements a pattern is designed for and the finished garment measurements. To work out the ease in a pattern, you need to take the body measurements and subtract them from the finished garment measurements.
For woven garments, ease is required to make a garment comfortable to move in. More ease is added to change the silhouette of a design. For example, in the Acton dress, the amount of ease in the hip area is more than you need to sit, stand, move etc. but it is this amount of ease that gives the pattern its A-line shape.
In the case of the waist for a size C, we subtract 71cm from 81.5cm. The result is 9.5cm. This means there is 9.5cm extra fabric at the waist.
4. Look at hip measurements
The last measurement to check is your hips. Your hip measurement is 89cm. This is smaller than the size C and would you put you in a size B. If you were making View A (the A-line skirt), you could grade down a size if you wanted. If it was me, I wouldn't worry about grading to a smaller size due to the design of the pattern. For a larger hip size, I would grade up a size.
5. Bring it all together
You can now look at your circled / highlighted size chart and see that you should be selecting a size C and doing a small bust adjustment of 2cm. Please keep in mind that this process has not considered length, and sometimes to achieve a great fit, you will need to add or remove length in different parts of a pattern. For how to do this on the Acton dress, you can see this post.
This will give you a really good start when it comes to printing the correct size. We would still suggest making a toile though so that you can check you are happy with the fit before cutting into your real fabric.
Although I have linked to a number of tutorials in this email, we have a whole lot more available in the Acton dress sew-along. You can check it out here.
If you're making another one of our patterns and not sure where to start when taking tour measurements, you might find this post from the Q&A series archive helpful. You may also like this post, which also talks about fit and things to consider when adding and removing length.
I hope this helps and you now feel confident to get started!
Happy sewing,
Emily
resources mentioned in this issue
Acton dress pattern can be found here.
Acton dress sleeve expansion can be found here.
Small Bust Adjustment (SBA) on princess panels. Tutorial can be found here.
Full Bust Adjustment (FBA) on princess panels. Tutorial can be found here.
How to grade between sizes on the Acton dress. Tutorial can be found here.
How to add length to the Acton bodice. Tutorial can be found here.
How to make a toile of the Acton dress. Tutorial can be found here.
The Acton dress sew-along can be found here.
Selecting the correct size. Tutorial can be found here.
Getting a good fit. Tutorial can be found here.
For more issues of the Q & A series, you can check out the archive here.
