Hello I'm Aneka from Made to Sew, welcome to this short video on what is ease!
So ease is the difference between your body measurements
and the finished measurements of a garment that you've made. So how much ease do you need in
a garment? This is a question that I often get asked, ease in a garment depends on a number of
things. It depends on the fit of that garment and the design of that garment but it also depends on
what you individually like. Now to work out how much ease there is in a pattern
you're going to firstly want to make sure that you take accurate measurements of your individual
figure. These measurements should be nicely around the body, you don't want to be pulling them too
tightly and you shouldn't be putting a finger underneath the tape measure. If you're unsure on
how to measure I do have some tutorials and I will link to them here, that you can watch. Now once
you've taken your measurements you will compare them to the pattern that you're wanting to make
and you'll usually find the measurements of the pattern on the back of the pattern envelope
or perhaps if you're working with an independent pattern company and you've downloaded it, in the
instructions. Compare your measurements to the patterns measurements to work out what size you
should be choosing in that dress making pattern, and that's where you need to take a step back you
don't just want to rush in and make that pattern size. I recommend that you look at how much ease
is in that pattern and whether that works for you. To find the ease you're going to want to find the
finished garment measurements, these are usually located on the back of the pattern envelope
or on the individual pattern pieces and you should find them for the bust, the waist and the low hip.
So the difference between the finished garment size which is the finished garment measurement
and your measurements or the pattern size that you're going to make is ease. So
how much ease should be in a garment, this of course differs as it really depends on what you
are making. If you're making something that is stretch or perhaps a jersey or knit item you may
find that there is zero ease or even negative ease because the fabric can stretch to fit your body.
Of course ease depends on the fit of the garment that you're working with. How closely fitting it
is, how loosely fitting it's designed to be and design is another big element. Something like
a statement sleeve is going to have a lot of ease but that's because it's designed to look
that way. Now one thing that I suggest to my customers if you're unsure about how much ease
you personally like is that you go and grab some item in your wardrobe and you measure it.
Make sure that it is a woven non-stretch item and measure the bust waist and the low hip. This might
give you a good idea as to what you believe or you like as the minimum amount of ease in a garment
or what you find comfortable, because that is another thing that really varies when you're
making a garment. When you're trying garments on in the shops some people prefer garments
that have a loose fit, other people prefer a tighter fit and it might be the exact same
garment that you're trying on someone else would pick a smaller size you might pick a larger size
just because of your personal fit preferences. Now I have gone ahead and made up three samples
and the three samples have different amounts of ease in them. Just so that you can get an
idea as to how they fit on the body these are all in woven fabrics or materials the same fabric
is used for each of them. It is just a plain calico or muslin fabric. My first sample has
0cm, of course zero ease isn't something that you're necessarily going to be using
in woven garments that often, in a woven fabric you would usually use 0cm ease
if you're working with a corset or something that needs to be extremely fitted. Otherwise
your 0cm ease is going to be down to times when you're working with jersey or stretch garments
and as I said you may even have negative ease. So the garment may actually be smaller than your body
and I think we've all had those garments where you've got a tiny little tank top in your wardrobe
that once it comes out of the wash is super small and tiny and then it stretches to fit your body.
The next garment I can share with you has 4cm of ease, so an 1 1/2" of ease around the bust, the
waist and the low hip and you can see that this is still showing as a relatively fitted garment.
Of course this particular garment has princess seams and a waist seam which does allow it to
be more fitted but hopefully you get an idea as to what 4cm or an 1 1/2" of ease is in a garment, and
I would generally say that this is a comfortable minimum amount of ease for most people to be able
to breathe and to move and to go about my daily activities I don't really want to be wearing too
much less than this amount of ease in a garment. The next garment is a larger amount of ease and
here you can see it is a much looser fit I don't have those waist seams or those princess seams,
this garment has at least 9cm of ease, more at the waist that's close to 4"
and you can see how it's falling around the body, it's a much looser fit everywhere. I
really hope that this video has helped you understand what ease is and what that might
look like in a garment. I would really recommend that you go ahead and measure a woven garment that
you have in your wardrobe that you like the fit of so that you can use that as a guidance when
you're choosing the right size to make in a pattern in the future. Thanks for watching!