A Free Invaluable Tool For Everyone

Carolyn's post today was "Stretch and How to Work It". We have all struggled with fitting difficulty, particularly when using a stretch fabric. Make a top in one knit and it fits perfectly. Make it again in another knit and it's too big, or too small. What is the key? She asked for suggestions, and although I left a comment on her blog, I am posting a wonderful worksheet here for anyone who has ever had problems figuring out how a pattern is going to fit using a stretch fabric. I believe that includes most of the blogging community!

Christine Johnson has been producing her own line of patterns for many years and is an authority on fitting knits. She developed a wonderful tool for calculating ease using any pattern, any fabric with any amount of stretch. It's a PDF worksheet. She has you measure your pattern, and determine the amount of stretch in your fabric using her guidelines. Following her instructions on the worksheet, do the math--and you have the amount of ease your garment will have. And, it's free.

This worksheet allows you to calculate how much ease you will have using fabric with 25% stretch, 50% stretch, 75% stretch, or no stretch at all using the same pattern.

Go to http://cjpatterns.com/. Click on "Tips and How To's". When that list comes up, click on "Perfect Sizing Worksheet". She has a good explanation of how stretch factors in the fit of a garment. It is an invaluable tool. No more guesswork.

I hope you take advantage of this worksheet and that it helps solve the mystery of stretch. This is a good thing people. Go get it!