Although Empty Hanger Patterns is mainly women’s patterns, there is one very important baby pattern I have in mind. So I’ve been working on a baby block. A block is a basic pattern from which patterns are developed; for baby clothes, which have the bare minimum of details, the block is nearly the same as the finished garments. For the pattern I’m developing I’ve made a full body block, which is a few pieces – a body, sleeve, and a gusset. Sounds simple, right?
Well no. First of all baby sizing is even more ridiculously complex than adult sizing. The USA, Canada, the UK, mainland Europe, and Australia all have their own sizing systems (and these are just English-speaking countries that I have info on). Even within the US, different brands size differently.
Another terrible point in the US sizing system is the reliance on age to determine size. Clearly this is stupid because not all babies are the same size at the same age. The European system is much more logical – sizes are based on height so a size 56 will fit a baby 56 cm long, a size 62 will fit a baby 62 cm long, etc. Easy peasy.
I started with the amazing Metric Pattern Cutting for Children’s Wear and Babywear by Winifred Aldrich. The book was a great starting point for the basic shapes needed but her measurements included way too much ease. I had the same problem drafting women’s patterns from her instructions. Below on the left is a old, ratty, totally stretched out store-bought size 80 and on the right a brand new size 80 according to the measurements in Metric Pattern Cutting. In such tiny clothes, a few extra centimeters of ease makes a garment comically long!
So I began searching for other measurements. I raided my own baby’s closet and compared (luckily he has waaaay too many clothes in all kinds of sizes that don’t fit him). I trolled the internet looking for any kind of sizing info I could find and put it all together in a massive spreadsheet. I may even (ahem) have gone to a baby store in my town and sneakily measured some clothes there.
One of the biggest problems with the block was how to grade – i.e. how much to increase / decrease between sizes. Grading a women’s pattern is very logical – European sizes use a 4 cm grade, meaning each size is 4 cm larger all around than the size below. The pattern doesn’t grow much vertically since adult patterns are graded to a standard height (Empty Hanger Patterns are graded for a 165 cm or 5’5″ tall figure).
Baby patterns are a whole different story. Babies and little children grow rapidly, and their height (or length) changes much faster than their width. Standard EU sizes are based on 6 cm growth increments – after size 56 comes 62, then 68, 74, etc. So you might think that to grade a baby pattern you can just lengthen it by 6 cm and widen it by a bit, right? Almost, but you also have to take into consideration head size – the smaller the baby, the bigger their head in proportion to the rest of their body. A newborn baby (size 50 or 56) is 25% head but a 2-year-old (size 92 or 98) is only 20% head.
Anyway, blathering aside, it was a super interesting project. After weeks of measurements and math, the block is ready. And after all the work I put into it, why am I sharing it for free? First of all because it’s “just” a block. It’s not a pattern; it doesn’t include seam allowances or facings or snap placements or anything. If you want to develop your own patterns from it, excellent! I hope you will! In return I ask two simple things – first, that you’ll do the ethical thing and give credit to where the block came from. And second, I’m hoping that you’ll comment here, link back to this post, or email me about how the block worked for you and your baby – because even though the block is ready doesn’t mean it’s finished, and every bit of feedback I can get will help me continue to develop and improve it.
So here it is. It’s a pdf file saved in google drive. I’m also more than happy to share it in another format if you need, just send me an email or leave your email in a comment here. Happy sewing!
Empty Hanger Patterns 