How to Measure your Child

How to Measure your Child

So, you’re ordering your princess a little something special and the boutique artisan asks for her measurements for sizing. You start freaking out, but wait! Before you have a panic attack I am going to tell you exactly what you need to know to get that perfect fit for your princess. Please note all measurements are best taken after removing any bulky clothing. A t-shirt and underwear or leggings will probably work for this.

What you need:

Tape measure: skinny thing with all the numbers like a ruler that costs about $.99 at the fabric store.

Pen/Pencil

Paper

THE child: not any child, but the one that the clothing is being made for, trust me you will have much better results.

Common Measurements:

Chest: this is a BIG one and very important. All kids are made differently so you want to have the right measurements for this one. Here’s what you do:

1.       Take the measuring tape, Start from the end marked 1” and hold it in place level with her armpits, have her hold her arms up and measure around the chest or breastbone keeping that one end in place.

2.       Bring the other end until it meets/touches the one you held in place. Now, here is the important part: DO NOT LEAVE ANY SLACK! The tape should not squeeze your child, but having it droop or be loose creates “ease” and most patterns already have ease built in. Take it from me, you don’t need to add anymore ease than is already there.  There is “room to grow” and then there are just ill-fitting clothes.

3.       Write down the number where those two ends meet, try to be as close to the fraction as possible, when in doubt – add. Do not take away from the measurement. If you need to round make sure it’s to the next smallest increment that you can figure out NOT INCH! (I know, we all struggle with fractions. It’s a part of adulthood.)

The rest of the measurements are taken in a pretty much similar manner, the only things that change are the locations.

 

Waist:  Measure around the child’s abdomen, across the belly button works well.

Hips:  Measure around the butt and thighs.

Inseam: Measure from the top of the inside of her leg to where you like her pants to fall.

Waist to Knee: Measure from the waist to the middle of the knee

Neck to Knee: measure from the base of her neck to the middle of her knee

Head: Measure around her head just above her eyebrow.

Height: Have her stand flat footed against a wall looking straight ahead then measure from the bottom of her feet to the crown of her head.

As you can see, occasionally, you will end up with “extra” measurements. You can just toss those out. 

Now, you have your perfect measurements and can give them with confidence, but if you get confused at all you should always touch base with the artisan, he or she can provide a clear explanation of what they want, but at least you have the basics of how it’s done.

Thanks so much for reading,

Tara XOXO

Haute and Posh Designs

Tags: diy, tutorial, how to, measurements, kids’ clothes, boutique clothes, child measurements, child, toddler, kids, how to measure, measuring