How much ease should I have in my childrens wear blocks?
This is a question that can throw up many answers and the answers can be vastly different, it all depends on where you look.
I spent a proportion of my career as a freelance grader, grading child patterns, I must admit it’s not my favourite area of pattern cutting, however it is an interesting one.
I am going to look at this topic as a grader and pattern block drafter and not as a designer, so I will only be focusing on functional ease, others refer to this as ‘wearing’ ease. This is the ease incorporated into the basic block, in order for the child to breath, move, bend, and play! It’s the extra above the body measurement according the size chart you used.
I was taught as a student that the elderly and the young need more ease. That’s quite a broad statement and having done a trawl of the literature out there, it appears that there are no set guidelines. Not unusual in the fashion & clothing industry.
The most predominant view out there, is to use the same quantity of ease as an adults block. I would like to look a little closer at what that means. It means that if you are using a block with the equivalent ease of an adults block, for a child block, then the % ease in the child block would be very high. However manufacturers love lots of ease in children’s patterns, as the looser they are the more children then fit and the more sales they make – in theory!
The most commonly used book for beginners drafting for children blocks is Winifred Aldrich’s book, its well set out and the instructions are clear, however she does allow quite a lot of ease in her blocks, I don’t have her book but I believe its about 12 cm in her younger child blocks.
My own blocks have less, about half that at the waist, as I use a dart to control the ease and I use a varying 9 cm at the chest, for my age 2 – 8 sets.
I like to always calculate and show the ease I have added to my blocks, on each pattern sheet.
You can see above that when I compare my own blocks to the latest sizing survey available that I have a stable amount of ease at the waist for the younger sizes and an increased amount after age 4. The dart in my blocks should be used after age 4 to reduce the waist measurement and it’s also then possible to increase the dart intake at the waist and reduce the ease in that way, if you need to.
I tend to ignore the dart in the younger sizes myself, but it can always be used if you need it.
The predominant area of growth for a young child is also height, so the grade for height is also quite large in children’s blocks. An average increase per size would be 6 cm up to age 8.
I have been asked by one of my customers how she can reduce the quantity of ease in a child block. To do this properly you need to understand how blocks are graded and also how much certain areas grow as the age increases.
Lets look at some grading increments –
In fact what are grading increments? – They are the quantity a body and therefore a block increases or decreases between sizes (according to a size chart). In the case of childrens wear, this means between ages.
The grade and therefore the size difference between each age for a shoulder is between 3 to 5 mm. This is quite a large grade compared to an adult lady where the grade can be 2 or 3 mm. I tend to grade at the lower end of this. But this does show you that any small changes you make at the shoulder do affect the size as there is only a small difference between each size here.
A neckline for example would be graded, that is increases or decreased, by around 7 to 10 mm per size step, between the ages of 2 to 9. At the waist the grade can vary from 10 mm to 20 mm, where as at the abdomen and the hips and chest it’s 20 mm so you can see that grading for a child blocks is quite complex. This may explain the amount of ease added into many blocks as it also allows for the huge difference in sizes from one 4 year old to another 4 year old.
Younger children still have an abdominal protrusion ‘ a little tummy’ that they begin to loose after 9 or so. Children are classed as the same in terms of pattern drafting up to the age of 8 or 9. After age 9 boys and girls begin to ‘grow’ differently and their blocks are no longer unisex, they then need separate blocks drafting for boys and girls.
I have separated my blocks set as follows:
Age Birth to 18 months / 2 years
Age 2 to 8/9
Age 9 to 15 ( this is my teen range)
I have woven blocks in all these ranges and stretch blocks in most. You can find them all in my shops.
If I wanted to reduce the quantity of ease in a block I would do this in very small quantities around the block, no more than 2 – 3 mm in each area.
The above plan could also be used to increase the quantity of ease in the block, so instead of taking out quantities at these areas you slash and open out the required amount, but then you are really adding design ease and this can be done as part of your pattern drafting.
It’s important to remember that blocks are only a starting point, particularly with children’s wear.
A size or age is only a label attached to the block. If you are starting a small design business the key is to do your market research, buy children’s clothes in the main high street retailers, measure them and see how they relate to the size charts supplied by that retailer. Collect as many size charts as you can and compare then and then develop your own size chart for your company. Stick to that size chart for all your patterns. Your customers will be confident that your clothing range is consistent and the size they select will fit their child.
I was lucky enough to be able to scan lots of children of all ages in a body scanner as part of a research project I took part in, I can confidently say that all children are different, an age 3 child can be vastly different in their measurements from the next age 3 child, and this goes some way to explaining the ‘extra’ ease allowed in children’s blocks.
I would welcome any comments and discussion on this topic.
As a pattern cutter and grader, I draft all my own blocks using my own methods, if you read my post on drafting a skirt block to your own measurements, you will see that the ease you add to a block is really a matter that’s up for discussion, you can decide what is right for you and your customer.
I would suggest starting with adding a moderate quantity of ease to blocks, for example between 7 – 10mm at the major girth measurements and then adding or subtracting from this in small quantities around the block. It’s tempting to take a huge wedge out of the middle of the block but this would unbalance the block and result in fit problems.
Happy drafting and pattern making,
Nicola
10 Comments
Thanks Nicola,
I want to take some of the ease out of the children’s blocks so its helpful to see where you would take it out. I am setting up a children’s clothing business so I need to decide what my basic block sizes will be but I am concerned that many children’s sizes tend to be on the big side. Most manufactures warn about this and suggest you buy not according to the age but according to the measurements. There are problems with this however. What if you are buying a gift for a child who you can’t measure either because you don’t live nearby or because it is a small child who doesn’t want to allow you to measure them. Also I don’t agree that bigger just fits everyone. If it is too big it just swims on a more slender child. Going down a size or 2 means that it will be too short.
Of course adults have fitting problems too and I have to start somewhere. So I think I would like to begin with a block pattern that has less ease than 10cm. I want to start with 5cm. I think later when I get going I could have a standard for each size and a tall for each size so as to accommodate the wide range of actual children’s sizes that exist.
But for now I just want to take about 5cm out of the blocks I bought from you. From reading your post it seems like the best way to do this would be to use a block for a smaller size and add length. Is this right? Does this mean that if I am trying to fit a child with a chest that measures 50cm, which corresponds to the 18 month size, and I want to finish up with a dress with 5cm ease, I should use the 6 month size? And add length?
My 3 year old granddaughter has a chest measurement of 50 cm. She is a slender child but I am worried that using a 6 month size and adding length wont work. What do you suggest?
Hi Donna, My best advice to you at this point would be to do as much research as you can. Go to all the high street shops and buy a
similar basic garment of the same size in each, you can always take them back. Then measure this garment flat, having also downloaded the companies size charts. I can send you the latest child size charts.
About a month ago I helped a lady that thought my blocks had too little ease and were coming up too small, I gave her the same advice and she then got back to me and realised they were very close to the high street sizing she looked at.
This shows us that for the same block, some people will think it’s too small, some people too large! This is where size charts come in rather than trying to fit an individual child. As long as your garments are consistent and your customers know how the sizing comes up then they can make an informed decision.
Your idea about offering different length options is a good one and could be a unique selling point for your brand!
It sounds as though you would like to use chest size as your base so if the chest size of a smaller block, age wise, matches your ideal measurements then its fine to use that, you can easily add length. Just remember how fast children grow and how expensive clothes are and a garment with little ease in the girth is one that will not last as long.
I hope I have given you a few things to think about here and please let me know how you get on.
Kind regards,
Nicola
Thank you for your very helpful notes, I’m struggling to make a pattern for my grandchildren, and all the patterns I already have are totally different! The one thing that puzzles me with what you have said is – why have darts at the waist for a child? For most of them the tummy measurement is bigger than the chest until they are at least 4, in spite of what pattern manufacturers sometimes say – optimistically giving a child a waist when all it has is a tummy! And in your text you mention that children can still have a tummy until they are 8 or 9.
This reality is precisely brought me to this post – I am working with some vintage patterns that assume the waist will be 2″ smaller than the chest in a size 3! The opposite is true for my kid, and I’d expect that to be more common than the little waist.
Body shapes and sizes have changed so much, particularly with children!
Yes, all my granddaughters’ waists were the same size as their chests, or larger, until they were 5 years old. Two are more muscular, the other two skinny, but the same is true for all of them.
This post is so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Finding information on pattern drafting for children is so difficult and you have explained exactly what i needed.
Hi Linda, I am so pleased to hear that. I am planning to launch a course on baby and child pattern drafting. It is a little while off yet it takes such a long time to write a course, but I will be letting my subscribers know on my blog page.
Yes please, me too!