The golden mean and pattern making for children's clothing

After studying measurement charts until my eyes about popped out of my head, I finally took the plunge and drafted my first bodice using Aldrich's method. After working for many years in the childrenswear business, I have never actually drafted my own blocks. There was never a need - I just used whatever the company had. I drafted the flat infant blocks and immediately it didn't look right. I have been a bit confused by her use of flat, jersey, and woven bodices. Later in the book, she has a classic bodice. I picked the flat bodice block because it was in the front of the book.

The problem I encountered with the flat block is it looked too long in the length, especially the scye depth. This is partly where art meets technical design. Most infant bodices are drafted intentionally above the waist. Proportionally it just looks better. Until about age 3 a child's waist falls half-way on the body. Interior designers, architects, fashion, etc., use the golden mean or 1 to 3 proportion. This is something that is almost never mentioned in any pattern drafting instructions for childrenswear. The instructions always have you draft the back neck to the true waist I am sure they neglect to mention this because every designer decides where exactly their waist line will fall. Generally speaking this waistline can fall anywhere from 1-2" above the natural waist. This practice is used on nearly all childrenswear up to age 16, especially on any infant casual clothing and girl's dresses. Casual boys wear mimics the proportions of adults as they get older. Confusing, huh!

When drafting the basic blocks it is important to decide on what kind of product you are going to make. Who knew so many decisions have to made so far ahead in product development?!

I don't really like Aldrich's flat blocks. Even with adjusting the waist line, the scye depth is too long, IMO. Instead, I flipped ahead and drafted her classic block. The classic block is drafted to fit closer to the body and is used in formal wear. To me this is a better place to start. The armhole and neck shapes look better. The flat block can later be extrapolated from the classic. If I understand Aldrich correctly, the flat block is a method used in the children's business where the front and back bodice pieces are essentially the same shape, except for the necklines. By starting with the classic block, you can then add your own additional ease and modify the neck and armhole shaping that makes sense to you.

My next project is to draft the classic block without ease and make my own children's dress form. I read about a similiar proceedure at Vintage Sewing. With the cost of dress forms, I thought this might be a more economical solution and I would have a form with my measurements. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Children's Sizing and Measurement Standards Vary by Company

After studying and comparing all of my size charts collected from various sources I have come to realize the search for a good standard may be in vain. Here is just a brief example of one meausurement and how it varies among pattern drafting manuals and retailers.

Size 8 child: Major US Retailer
Bicep (inches) : 7.75
Recommended Ease : 1.5-2.0
Draft Line : 9.25-9.75

Size 8 child: Armstrong
Bicep (inches): 8.125
Recommended Ease : 2.875
Draft Line: 11

Size 8 child: Mortimer-Dunn
Bicep (inches): 8.75
Recommended Ease: 1.5-2.0
Draft Line : 10.25-10.75

Size 8 child: Dressform Co.
Bicep (inches): 7.75
Recommended Ease : 1.5-2.0
Draft Line : 9.25-9.75

As you can see there is quite a range in measurements. To fit the most average child, it is best to fall in between the range. But it still begs the question of who is correct? The Armstrong measurement is especially suspect because she recommends far too much ease in her drafting measurement.

For my new blocks, I have decided to use the Aldrich charts. She has statistical data to backup her charts. The US retailer and dressform co. charts are based off of the 1977 study and have been adjusted/updated over the years. I don't know where Armstrong and Mortimer-Dunn got their measurements, but their numbers seem odd. As far as I can tell, Aldrich is fairly close to the Major US Retailer. I am currently in the process of converting her measurements over to inches, to the nearest 1/8". This introduces an error into her measurements, but I am most comfortable using those units. Once I fine tune and tweak the numbers so they look right and are easy to work with, I will then compare my charts to those above and make sure I fall somewhere in the range. And I am still toying with the idea of working in metric anyway. I am unsure how my US customers would respond...

The next step is to draft some basic blocks and sew-up a fit sample.

My sources:
Major US Retailer - Kept confidential. Their size charts were last updated in 1981.

Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph Armstrong (5th edition) - her third edition has an even larger measurement for a Size 8 bicep and still too much ease. I have no idea about the fourth and fifth editions.

Pattern Design for Children's Clothes by Gloria Mortimer-Dunn - the book shows basic pattern drafting skills but her size charts are a bit odd.

Dressform Co. - kept confidential, but they have one of the better charts I have seen for infants.

Metric Pattern Cutting for Children's Wear and Babywear (4th edition) - the best book by far. I have not cited her bicep measurement because I am still studying her charts.

A brief review of Metric Pattern Cutting for Children's Wear and Babywear

I finally received a copy of Winifred Aldrich's book on pattern cutting for children. I have never created my own blocks for children as I relied on my employer's existing pattern blocks. In college and in my first employment, I used Helen Armstrong's patternmaking book. The Armstrong book completely skips over infant sizes - at least in my edition of the book. Just about any patternmaking manual will give basic instructions on how to draft a pattern. The problem is the drafting instructions do not give you the correct measurements or proportions for an infant. Aldrich's book is an exception and starts off with basic drafts for infants. So now that I have this book, I finally feel like I can make progress on developing my own pattern blocks for children.

I am accustomed to American sizing and Imperial measurements. Aldrich is from Great Britain and she uses British fashion terms and metric measurements. I have to read things very closely and study the charts carefully to understand the things she is talking about. Despite that, the book is excellent. I can sit at the feet of a master pattern cutter and learn from her years of experience and wisdom.

I have yet to decide on making my blocks using the metric system or not. I may use her drafting methods and substitute my own imperial measurements. I have one measurement chart based off the US measurement study done in 1975 and I keep going back to it. Plus, I like the way she has broken down infant/toddler sizing to reduce redundant sizing. I will blog more about this topic later.

The book includes data from Aldrich's own measurement study on children's sizes. And surprisingly, her measurements are not dissimilar from a British government study released in 1988-1989. The British (and really the EU)  designate children's sizes based on height with age being a reference. There are many advantages to such a system. Again, more about that later.

2019 note: Links are Amazon affiliate links. When I wrote this, I referred to an earlier edition of both Winifred Aldrich and Armstrong's books. Links are to newer editions for the reader's convenience.