3 Quick and Easy Ways to Measure for Fashion Design
It turns out our beautiful bodies have a lot of areas that correlate to garments and perfectly fitting clothes, it’s no wonder that seemingly simple measuring tape can quickly become our arch nemesis in the sewing room!
Then you find yourself contorting into some yoga shapes that can only be described as a human pretzel to get your tape measure down your back, but you still result in inaccurate measurements. You huff, sigh and mutter some expletives, scrunch up your tape and throw it into the corner then reach for the nearest glass of wine in a moment of defeatism. No? Just me?
Well, either way taking your own measurements can be a tricky task, let alone ensuring they’re accurate. Read on for three quick and easy ways to measure accurately with garments in mind.
find your natural waist
Although the waist is “usually” two finger widths above the belly button, with a world population of 7billion beautifully unique bodies, I think we can throw “usually” out of the window. A super easy way to find YOUR natural waist is to bend your torso by keeping your arms straight and to your side and reaching them down towards your knees. Where creases form on your body is where your natural waist is.
use a marker
Once you have established your natural waist, tie a piece of string, ribbon or elastic securely around it. Using this as a marker is a great central point of reference for us to take accurate measurements and ensure we are taking down to the waist at every time. This is especially useful when we are measuring ourselves and craning round the back to take measurements like our nape to waist! You will also see professionals use this technique when working with clients, so it’s not one to be missed.
Measuring the shoulder
When we measure for fashion design, we must always have the end garment in mind. Therefore, when we are asked to take our shoulder measurement, it’s hard to know when to stop. If we measure right along to the top of our arm, our shoulder seam will surely be too long. A top tip is to stop at the crease created by your armpit, or to feel for the end of your collar bone.
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