Rowan Sweater Hack Along PT3- Sizing & Adjustments

August 29, 2020

Jump to the previous post in the hack along: Rowan Sweater Hack Along PT2 - Getting started. Jump to the next post in the hack along: Rowan Sweater Hack Along PT4 - Creating your colorblock

Good morning on this cloudy Saturday morning (at least here in the Netherlands!) I hope you had enough time to gather your supplies, dive into your fabric stash or shop some new fabrics! This week we’ll cover every step towards our goal of finishing a super cool colorblocked Rowan sweater or dress! But today we’re going to focus on selecting your size and making the necessary adjustments!

Here's what we'll be covering in today’s post:

• Printing and assembling the pattern
• How to pick a size
• Size blending
• Lengthening or shortening

Printing and assembling the pattern

As mentioned in previous post, we’ve recently updated our Rowan Tee pattern with some additional style options but also with some new printing options! Next to the layered A4/letter pattern, the Rowan Tee now also comes in a layered A0/copyshop file and projector file! The latter is probably the easiest and quickest way to cut out a regular Rowan tee, but for this pattern hack we need a printed version!

The A4/letter pattern prints 5 pages across for the first 3 rows and 3 pages across for the last 2 rows. The easiest way of assembling is by trimming only the bottom and right side of the pattern blocks and sticking them together with a glue stick or tape! I personally prefer to print the pattern with all it’s layers turned on and trace the sizes needed for my current project. But after measuring your child, you can also only print the pattern sizes you need using the layers option and go from there!

How to pick a size

Body measurements - If you haven’t taken recent measurements of your child, pull out that measuring tape! Because of the oversized fit of the Rowan Tee, going by your child’s ready to wear sizes is not recommended! Mark down your child’s chest and hip width measurements. Measure the center back of your child from the top shoulder down to the desired sweater or sweater dress length. Also, measure the desired sleeve length, starting at the top of the shoulder, going down over the shoulder. Now take a look at the size chart and determine the pattern sizes matching the chest and hip width. If your child’s measurements fall in different pattern sizes, you can blend between those sizes. But remember that the Rowan Tee is designed with generous ease, so if there’s only one pattern size difference between the chest and the hips, selecting the pattern size based on the chest width only, will work out fine too. 

Finished measurements - If you’re unfamiliar with oversized clothing and you’re not certain the fit of the Rowan tee will suit you or your child, you can do a little comparison. Select a good fitting sweater from your child’s wardrobe and measure the chest width of this sweater. Now, check the Finished Garment Measurements Chart (you can find the imperial version of this chart in the tutorial!) and find out which pattern size (based on the chest width), comes closest to this measurement. If in between sizes, you might want to size up to make sure the sweater or sweater dress will make it through fall and maybe even winter! By following this approach, you could end up selecting a smaller pattern size than originally recommended based on the Size and Body Measurements chart. 

Little example - This is one of my son’s favorite RTW sweaters from last winter. It still fits him nicely in width, but he will outgrow it in length in a few months time. The finished chest measurement for this sweater is 70 cm (35x2). When comparing this to our Finished Garment Measurements Chart for the Rowan Tee, it compares to a size 116. Based on this, I ended up choosing the size 122 in width and lengthened it to a size 128.

Size blending

By now you’ve determined which pattern size or sizes you’re going to work with. Start by tracing off your needed pattern sizes with the desired style options. Make sure to follow the “long sleeves” lines on the pattern. If you need to make width and length adjustments, start with width adjustments first!

Take the front bodice and back bodice pattern pieces. Start at the smallest part of the side seam of the front bodice, below the sleeves. Start and follow the line in the pattern size that fits your child's chest width best and gradually blend into the pattern size line that fits your child's hip width best. 

Measure the back length - keeping the 1cm ( ⅜”) seam allowance and 2,5cm (1”) hem allowance in mind (here highlighted in mint) -  and determine by how much you need to lengthen or shorten the bodices. 

Cut along the size blending line on your pattern piece.

To lengthen - Extend the upper and lower parts of the bodices the desired amount to lengthen. Place a piece of paper below the pattern pieces extending beyond the entire side seams and tape everything into place. Redraw the seams. When lengthening the sleeves, you can follow the same steps!

To shorten - Overlap the upper and lower parts of the bodices the desired amount to shorten. Place a piece of paper below the pattern pieces extending beyond the entire side seams and tape everything into place. Redraw the seams.  When shortening the sleeves, you can follow the same steps!

That’s it for today! You’ve successfully chosen your child’s size and made the necessary adjustments! Your base pattern is ready for tomorrow’s color blocking  adventure. Make sure to write down some notes for yourself so that when you come back to the pattern, you know what adjustments you have made. If you haven’t decided on your colorblock design yet, try visualizing it with the help of our Rowan Sweater Design Templates! Also, make sure to start pre-washing the fabric you’re going to use!

If you have any other fit questions, please ask them in our Facebook Sew & Tell group!

Happy sewing!

Elles

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