Oh no, I sewed it too big!
Crap, now my me-made is way too small!
If you want to know why you’re sewing clothes that don’t fit the way you expect, you need to understand ease. Put simply, ease is the difference between your body measurements and the full measurements of a finished garment. Total ease combines the comfort and aesthetic of clothing and, in my opinion, it’s the single most important measure of design. Let’s define ease so you can use this concept to create clothes that fit your body and style.
What is fitting ease?
Fitting ease, plus wearing ease, is room in a garment that affords you comfort and movement. Clothes with proper fitting ease enable you to breathe, lift your arms, sit down, or bend your knees. Essentially, garments that have fitting ease are made bigger than your body measurements in order to accommodate changes to your size and proportions as you move.
Think about a close-fitting pair of jeans. When you first put them on and stand up, they may feel great while looking skin-tight. But, when you sit down, you could have trouble bending your knees with tightness across your thigh or find it hard to breathe. This is because your flesh changes shape as you sit, compressing in length as your hips bend yet expanding in width. Unless your jeans have ample give or stretch (see negative ease below), you need to make the measurements of your jeans bigger than your body measurements.
There are some industry standards for required ease in your bust, waist, hips, and crotch depth to free your movement while wearing clothes. This wearing ease also prevents wrinkles, drag lines and stretching across your body that make your clothes look ill-fitting. Here is the minimum suggested fitting ease:
What is negative ease?
The one caveat to minimum fitting ease is a concept reserved only for knits and stretch woven fabrics: negative ease. Ease is negative when the finished measurements of a garment are intentionally smaller than your body measurements. With stretch fabrics, negative ease makes the garment hug tight to your body and stretch at all times as you wear it. The stretch, or give, enables the fabric to expand or contract as your body’s size changes.
Go to your closet and pull out two pairs of jeans that fit well: one with no stretch and one with some spandex. Lay them on top of each other and note the difference in size. Could you imagine trying to squeeze into the smaller jeans without any stretch?
With stretch garments, it’s very important to use fabrics that have a specific amount of stretch in order to achieve the desired look. Fabrics like jersey, ponte, tricot, sweater knit and spandex are usually listed for sale with their percentage of stretch. Be mindful and test that stretch percentage before sewing. And, when you’re making a muslin or toile of a stretch garment, be sure to use a fabric with similar qualities to your finished fabric.
What is design ease?
While fitting ease defines comfort, design ease defines aesthetic. Design ease, AKA style ease, is all of the room in a garment that makes the silhouette and style lines. Think about jeans – you can buy slim, straight, loose and wide leg all in the same size and made of the same material, but the fit is different in each. Garments are made unique by the amount of design ease that is added and where that ease is located. Design ease follows style trends and personal preferences – like how tight bodycon dresses have lost popularity and oversized nap dresses were en vogue during the pandemic. Designers and sewists can manipulate design ease in order to change the personality of a garment and fit in with aesthetic trends.
How much ease is in my Clothes?
When shopping for sewing patterns, look for language about the garment’s silhouette. The Big 4 pattern companies, AKA Something Delightful, use this chart to communicate how much total ease (fitting ease + design ease) is in the pattern relative to each size:
Beyond the simple silhouette definitions, many sewing pattern companies now list the finished garment measurements on the pattern paper or in the pattern instructions. Use this simple formula to calculate the ease of a garment at your size.
Total ease = Finished garment measurements – Body measurements
Sewing patterns with photos of sample garments should accurately represent how the pattern ease might look on your body. But, if your body is differently proportioned, you may not achieve the same look. For example, taller or wider bodies can better carry more ease than shorter or thinner bodies.
You can control the amount of ease in a sewing pattern to get your desired look and feel. McCall’s, Butterick, and Vogue patterns are notorious for including a lot of ease so sometimes I adapt my finished measurements by sewing a smaller size or grading down in spots I want to hug my curves more closely. Other times I will sew a garment at one or two sizes above what I need in order to achieve an oversized look.
How to find your perfect ease
- Use our Downloadable Measurement Chart to record measures for your body and the pattern – coming soon!
- Try on something from your closet with a similar style then measure its finished garment measurements
- Compare the ease in the pattern to your favorite clothes
- When making a muslin or trying on as you sew, be sure to twist, sit, bend, reach, etc. to mimic your movement wearing the finished garment
- Note your ease choices for future sewing
Want to learn more about fitting the clothes you sew? Take my classes with Skillshare!
For a textbook that covers many questions about fitting, get Fitting and Pattern Alteration: A Multi-Method Approach to the Art of Style Selection, Fitting, and Alteration.
Happy fitting!