Crochet guide
Measuring for crochet clothes
To choose a size for crochet clothes, measure the body and compare it with the finished measurements the pattern prints. The difference between the two is called ease. This guide covers what to measure, how to choose a size, and what to change when one size does not fit everywhere. It is not a pattern.
On this page 8 parts
What to measure
A sweater pattern is sized by the chest. The other measurements tell you where a size will be too tight or too loose. Hold the tape snug, not tight.
| Measurement | How it is taken |
|---|---|
| Chest or bust | All the way around the fullest part |
| Waist | Around the natural waistline |
| Hips | Around the fullest part of the hips |
| Back, neck to waist | From the bone that stands out at the base of the neck, down to the waistline |
| Upper arm | Around the upper arm |
Write each one down in inches or centimeters, whichever the pattern uses. One inch is 2.54 cm, so a 40 inch chest is about 102 cm.
Or measure a sweater that fits
A sweater that already fits the way you like is a second guide. Lay it flat and measure straight across the chest, from side to side. Double that number to get the distance around. A sweater 20 inches (51 cm) across is 40 inches (102 cm) around.
The same trick reads a pattern. If a pattern gives the width of the back panel, twice that width is the finished chest.
Body measurements and finished measurements
A pattern can print two kinds of number, and they are not the same.
- Finished measurements are the size of the piece itself.
- "To fit" measurements are the size of the body that the piece is meant for.
Check which kind a pattern gives before you choose a size.
The difference between the body and the finished piece is the ease. With positive ease, the piece is larger than the body. With negative ease, it is smaller and stretches to fit. With zero ease, the two are the same.
Most people wear sweaters with positive ease. A finished chest about 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm) larger than the body is a common range: nearer 2 inches (5 cm) for a classic fit, nearer 6 inches (15 cm) for a loose one. Hats and socks are the usual exception: they are made a little smaller than the head or the foot, and stretch to stay in place.
Choosing a size
- Start with the chest or bust. Take your own measurement and add the ease you want.
- Find the size whose finished chest is nearest to that number.
- Check that size in other places. Look at the upper arm, the length and, for a sweater that reaches the hips, the room at the hips. Many patterns carry a schematic, a line drawing with the measurements of each size.
- Between two sizes, choose the smaller for a closer fit and the larger for a looser one.
The size chart for clothes lists typical measurements, but few people match one row in every place. Your own numbers come first. See the crochet size chart for clothes.
A pattern's measurements hold only at the pattern's gauge. If your stitches are larger or smaller than the pattern's, the piece will be too. Crochet gauge explains how to check.
Crochet fabric stretches
A crochet piece stretches as it is worn. How much depends on the yarn and the stitch. Wash and block your swatch the way you will treat the finished piece, then measure it. That shows how the fabric will change. Yarn for crochet clothes covers how fibers behave.
When one size does not fit everywhere
Bodies do not come in pattern sizes. If your chest is one size and your hips or arms another, you can blend sizes or change one part.
- A larger or smaller size for one part. Work the size that fits most of you, and follow a different size where your measurements call for it.
- A larger bust. Add stitches where the room is needed and take them away again past it, so that the piece is not large all over.
- Wider hips. Add stitches for the hips, usually at the sides of the piece.
- A larger upper arm. Give the sleeve more stitches. How to crochet sleeves explains how a sleeve is shaped.
- Length. In a piece worked from the top or from the bottom, work more or fewer rows in the body or the sleeve.
Stitches are added with increases and taken away with decreases. Resizing a crochet pattern covers larger changes.
Check the fit as you go
Try the piece on as it grows. If it is made in separate panels, pin them together and try them on before you seam them.
Where to go next
- Crochet size chart for clothes, for typical chest, waist and hip measurements.
- Crochet gauge, for making the piece come out the size the pattern says.
- How a crochet sweater is put together, for the ways a sweater is built.
- How to crochet sleeves, for sleeve shaping.
- Crochet hat size chart, for head sizes.