Garment measurements are not body measurements

Two numbers get confused constantly: what a garment measures, and what a body measures. They are never the same, and they should not be.

Body measurement

Taken on you, with a tape around the body, snug but not tight. It describes the person.

Finished garment measurement

Taken on the garment, flat on a table, as described in How I measure a garment. It describes the object. It has to be larger than the body measurement or you could not get into the thing, sit down in it, or raise your arms.

Ease

The difference between the two is ease, and it comes in two kinds:

• Wearing ease is the minimum room a body needs to move — to sit, bend, step up, reach. It is not a style choice. Too little and the garment fights you.
• Design ease is everything added on top of that on purpose: a roomier thigh, a fuller back, a sleeve that lets a sweater underneath. It is the shape of the piece.

How much of each a project carries is decided at the pattern, tested on a prototype, and adjusted. That is most of what fit work is.

Why this matters when you compare

If you know your waist is 84 cm, you know your waist. You do not yet know whether a jean with an 88 cm waistband will feel right — that depends on the ease the pattern carries, the cloth, and how you like to wear it.

What you can compare reliably is a garment against a garment. Take the same points, the same way, on a piece you already like, and the numbers mean something. That method is written up in Compare a garment you already own.

Nothing on this shelf recommends a size. The patterns are still being tuned, and I would rather say that plainly than publish a chart and revise it quietly.