Grading Patterns For Plus Sizes

Awesome post! I hope posts like this create a mutual understanding between sewists and patternmakers. It eliminates frustrations and questions asked on both sides.

A question: what would be the max amount for grading up/down a base pattern? I thought it was 3 times, but this post suggests 4 times would still be OK.

While I do understand the idea of grading from a sample, and how you can only grade so far, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to create another sample in a larger size to help accommodate more sizes if you do come across so many requests for it? I’m assuming this is what companies like hot patterns have to do to get their large size range.

At the largest pattern size Colette offers I find myself having to modify a lot of things that could be solved very simply by just sizing up. I am not a plus size woman though, so I can’t even imagine how hard it is for someone who is firmly outside of you pattern’s size range. Other sites such as deer and doe and sewaholic whose patterns I love, but don’t fit any of their size measurements. I would buy every pattern they had if I did.

I understand the intent of this article, about how sizing is done in this industry, I just feel as though it’s a bit dismissive of how we should solve it. I don’t working on extended sizes would only boost your sales. People sew because they aren’t happy with what they can find in stores, and having a plus size sister I know how hard it is for her to find non dowdy plus size clothing and patterns.

I’m in the plus size category for patterns (not always for FTW), and using the methods found in Barbara Deckert’s “Plus Size Fitting” book has worked for me. She also has a course on Craftsy on modifying patterns for plus size sewists.
The only Colette pattern I’ve modified using her methods is the Sorbetto, but it worked out quite well.

What this entry is basically saying is “We only have so much time and money, and we therefore make patterns mainly for our target market. Plus size sewers are not our target market, it would cost us too much time and money to do good grading and include them in our target market, and so we are not going to do it.” And that is all fine, honestly. It’s good economic sense. To survive in business, you have to decide what not to do just as much as deciding what to do. I don’t blame Colette or any other business for choosing how to allocate their resources.

The problem, and the frustration for many of us who are plus-size sewers, is that we don’t seem to be ANYBODY’S target market. I mean, I want to buy patterns! I want to support indies! But apparently nobody wants my money, just like very few shops on the high street want my money.

This being the case, I find it profoundly irritating to be told not to get “frustrated” by the fact that so many indies don’t offer much at all for plus-sized sewers, because to me that just reads as silencing: “Don’t keep asking us for stuff! You’re not our target market! We’re not going to do the work or spend the money to make our products work for you!”

Like I said, that’s a perfectly reasonable position for you to take as a business. However, unless we ask — nicely, hopefully, and without stigmatizing sewers who are not plus-sized — and keep asking, how are we ever going to find the company or indie who decides that they COULD make money from serving us? How else would they know that yes, there’s a pool of plus-size sewers ready, able and willing to cough up the cash for a pattern graded properly to our size?

Thank you for this post. At least you are thinking about it and addressing the issue! I am right on the edge of your range, and too big for a lot of indie patterns. It is frustrating certainly, but learning to sew has actually increased my understanding of how difficult it is to make patterns that fit a really wide range of sizes. There are a lot of companies that do grade way up, both RTW and patterns, but you can tell that there wasn’t much thought given to the fact that larger bodies often have different proportions as well – so while they “fit,” they usually don’t look quite right. I completely agree that people should be working on this issue, but now I understand how difficult it is to fit such a huge range of people.

On a side note, I now also understand why plus-size clothing is usually more expensive – it actually takes a lot more fabric to cut a larger size!

Thank you for the explanation. I was aware that there can be some redrafting needed, but I didn’t know about the base size and how patterns are graded up and down from there. That explains a lot when I’ve knitted a pattern in a XL size that someone has created based on their XS pattern, and the proportions are way off and the whole thing just doesn’t work. (I’ve learned that knitted patterns are very similar to sewn patterns!)

I can’t say that I took issue with the “actual size range” comment, because it would be nice to be able to buy any pattern in sizes that fit the actual size range of all women, not just the smaller range of sizes, but I can see how that could sound off. I did take more issue with being told not to get frustrated about limited choices. I understand the reasoning behind only drafting for the smaller half of the size range (for now, hopefully), especially after this article, but you can’t expect people to not be frustrated by that fact.

Thanks for a very interesting article. I’d love to see more articles on grading up sizes down the road if possible. I got really excited when I saw this post title, only for it to not be what I expected (but still interesting!)

Hmm, I easily fit into Colette’s top two sizes, so this doesn’t really apply to me, and yet it does. My measurements and BMI are considered “plus size” to many. BUT, I’m pushing 6′, so in many ways I myself am just a “graded up” version of a shorter person who wears a size 12. In other words, I’m not BUILT anything like a plus-sized woman and get annoyed when people assume I need more room for like, fat rolls or something, or that the bust-to-waist-to-hip ratio is somehow more barrel shaped, when in reality the fitting issues I have have nothing to do with my weight; DD breasts, extremely long legs, very squared-shaped, and very short-waisted. In fact, when I inquired with another indie pattern maker about a slightly larger sized version of one of her patterns, she gave me this same speil contained in this post, and it was the first time I’d ever been really called “plus sized”. I don’t shop in the plus sized section for RTW.. So it stung. I think what I’m getting at is that the fitting issues for tall women can be just as much of a challenge, especially when coupled with plus-sized measurements.

But what compelled me to comment was the idea that I should spend extra money for an indie pattern and still be expected to grade it. Again, I fit within Colette’s sizing so this does not apply here. But the other indie designer I just mentioned made that suggestion, and it annoyed me. I can pay .99 cents for a Big Four pattern and work with the fitting issues there, or spend $20 on an indie and still have to grade, THEN fit? No thanks. (Thanks for making patterns with larger measurements and at least “C” cups, Sarai.)

Thank you for the information about multi size pattern drafting. I particularly found the idea of base size useful to know.
I learn a lot from the tutorials on Collette Patterns blog. for eg at the end of the email I received with this post I saw ‘Roobois Sewalong: Grading for larger hips’. Fantastic tutorial !

I empathize with the frustrations expressed in some of the responses. I think the title of the post was not a good fit for the content. It was an effective hook.

I’m a tech deigner too! The thing that bugs me about production grading and size ranges is that I am a very tall “missy”…. meaning, I wear a 12~16 (depending on the brand) and that veers close to the top of the missy size range. My body SHAPE is not that of a “woman” (plus) size, so sometimes I fall into this grey area where there just aren’t RTW clothing that fit me. Thank goodness I sew and know how to draft and modify patterns!

I am a plus-size that cannot even buy the Big 4 anymore without major grading. Even their plus sized designs stop at a 52 bust(I have a 54). I find that most of the plus sized designs are not flattering to my body shape. So I have a tendency to buy “tent” sizes and alter. Altering the RTW tends to create less frustration than trying to grade a pattern that I’m not sure will look good even though I like the artistic rendition.

I wonder though why pattern makers, if you only want to have one size range) don’t start with a larger median size and grade from there. The truth is there a whole lot more size 20’s out there than 0’s and 2’s. Why exclude the larger sizes, which there a more of just to make sure you include the smaller sizes?

I’m probably rather late in joining this discussion but there are some things I just have to say.

Firstly, I totally sympathize with the challenges of being a small company. In my post college career, I’ve been with a company that has at times only had 4 members of staff, and it can be hard to explain to people what that’s really like. Secondly, I’m a big fan of Colette’s work – from afar, as I’m a fat woman who is out of reach of your sizes. But I love reading the blog and following the line as it expands (Hawthorn’s your best yet! I sigh over it often).

That being said, this post, and the attitude of the garment industry in both small and large companies, treats plus sizes as some kind of special concession. As many above have pointed out, the average American woman is a size 14 or 16 (the data varies) in RTW, higher in pattern sizing. We are not a special category. We are a common part of the clothes-buying world. I am as legitimate a customer and as real a person as a size 8 woman, and she is as legitimate a customer and as real a person as I.

Fat people who are into clothes are actually quite familiar with the grading issue you’ve laid out here. We’ve heard it again and again. I know this is not your intention, but the message ultimately is “you’re not worth it.”

We’re told we have plenty of specialist shops. But these shops take advantage of their “niche” by charging a premium on cheap material, while offering the same range of tunics and palazzo pants and shapeless dresses season after season. A whole lot of us fat folks, especially the significant number of us who are under forty, would like cute, more fitted clothes. Clothes with shape and thoughtful design. Clothes of the kind our smaller friends can make from your awesome, attractive patterns.

We’re all also dealing with the issue that people’s judgement of scale and size is pretty much crap. It’s just a human thing! I think you lovely ladies who write this blog, as slim women, may have skewed perceptions of what sizes above a pattern 18 are like, even given your industry expertise. People are getting taller. People are getting bustier (and if people make sizing choices by one metric alone, it’s usually bust size). That complicates perception as well. I, for example, am just shy of 5’10” and have a 50.5″ bust, but apparently do not fit into people’s perceptions of what a 50.5″ bust looks like. I’ve surprised many a shop assistant or friend when the number came up. They look at how my weight is distributed on my frame, and the difference between my chest and waist size, and think I must be smaller. And I’m no hourglass bombshell.

I think it’s possible that slimmer folks see people on the street but think that they don’t see people with a 52″ or 53″ bust very often. But they’re probably seeing them every day. Folks who are, say, a size 6 or 8 are so removed from the plus side of the scale that it’s easy for them to think that sizes over an 18 RTW are rare, or must be for people who are the “very special episode of a talk show” kind of fat, because those sizes just aren’t a part of their frame of reference. It’s not malicious, but in my experience, it’s a real phenomenon. And really, why shouldn’t “talk show fat” people [a cruel phrase but I’ve heard it several times from ignorant people] have nice clothes?

The variation in fat bodies is a very real thing, yes, but there’s also variation in slim bodies. Given that you produce patterns, and your audience is that of enthusiastic sewists, your customer base is largely comfortable with making small adjustments to suit their particular form. A lot of us enjoy that aspect of home sewing most of all. But grading up a whole pattern, as an amateur, before one even starts to think about the subtler pattern adjustments – oy vey.

(If anyone is wondering what the heck I’m on about when I talk about our tendency to have a skewed sense of scale as well as the variation in fat and thin bodies, I highly recommend checking out My Body Gallery. You can go through and see the many kinds of size 14 bodies there are, or the varied sorts 130 pound bodies there are. It’s meant a lot to me, and can be helpful for people struggling with body image issues, whatever their size.)

The assertion that adding plus sizes would mean doubling the work is disingenuous. It’s double the pattern grading work, no question, but that is not the only work involved in offering a pattern for sale. No separate photo shoots would be required, unless the plus version really is vastly different from the original. The instructions would be the same. Site edits would be minimal. Fat folks shop primarily on the internet, as several studies have shown, so having PDF-only patterns for any theoretical Colette plus patterns would not phase us and would save you time and money. Adding plus patterns would definitely be a big task for you all, but it should not be portrayed as Sisyphean.

If you ever decide that plus size Colette patterns definitely aren’t going to happen, you should be honest about that. It’s a legitimate business decision. Clothing oneself as a fat person is pretty much a second job, so knowing what we no longer need to spend our time keeping tabs on is quite important to us. I do know you’re not ready to make that decision yet – it must be done in the proper time.

Again, I know you gals and guys at Colette do not mean this post unkindly. I have respect for you, your time, and your abilities. But I think you need to examine what you’ve posted and how your choices on this matter are made, and consider how it comes across to those of us who are fat.

I remain a big fan, literally and figuratively.

To ALL-

For the record, I am plus sized.

A few years ago my frustration with retail shopping and a deep desire for adorable vintage-style dresses led me to a decision — I was going to learn to sew! I bought some books, looked at a few websites, and started looking for patterns, but I didn’t really know what I was doing. I remember looking at the Vintage Vogue patterns on their website, and the absolute euphoria I felt when I saw the drop-down menu — “E5 (14-16-18-20-22)”. I was a size 18! I could just buy this pattern and sew it up and have the gorgeous vintage-style dress of my dreams!

I was wrong, of course. I guess it’s good that I realized that before I bought the pattern (which was too advanced for me, an absolute beginner, anyway). But the experience was sort of heartbreaking. I read everything I could about grading patterns, but while learning to sew generally was a fun challenge, the idea of adjusting my own patterns in so very many ways just seemed utterly insurmountable. I realized that it would most likely be quite a while before I was actually able to sew and wear any of the beautiful Colette Patterns I had bookmarked. And then I kinda gave up, because I’m just not that interested in sewing pillowcases and utensil-rolls without the promise of something pretty to wear in the fairly-near future.

It’s not anyone’s duty to make patterns in my size, but it’s hard to hear the indie clothing, lingerie and pattern companies constantly saying “We wish we could, but we can’t!” Logically it makes sense, but emotionally it’s like being picked last in gym, where gym is getting to choose how you present yourself to the world.

As leaders in the indie-pattern world, I think Colette has an opportunity to actually change the game a bit (kind of the way ModCloth did when the introduced a plus section). I would be beyond happy to help fund a collection of plus patterns on Kickstarter!

A truly wow piece of information for plus size women. It literally enlightened me about from where to and how to shop internationally. And, these dresses are really gorgeous, I loved these.