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