Industrial Size Chart: What It Is and How to Build Your Own

An industrial size chart is the worksheet a factory uses to grade a base pattern across the whole size range: for each size it records bust or chest, waist and hip circumference, waist length, back width and arm circumference, with the values the patternmaker uses to generate the smaller and larger sizes. There is no single mandatory chart for adult clothing: each manufacturer builds its own, calibrated with its patternmaker and tested with a sample, even though sizing standardization efforts aim for more consistent sizes between brands.

Modeltex production guide. Updated on Sep 8, 2026.

What an industrial size chart is and what it is for

Taking the measurements of one specific person is not the same as building an industrial size chart. The chart is a technical tool: it fixes, size by size, the circumferences and lengths of the finished garment, and it is the basis for developing the base-size pattern and grading it to the rest of the size range with consistent rules.

It is also a shared reference document between the patternmaker, the marker maker and quality control, and for uniforms or custom patternmaking it is shared with the client (a school, a company) so they can choose sizes without trying them on before receiving the order. It is different from the simplified size guide a brand publishes for consumers, with two or three measurements; the industrial one has more columns because how the fabric is cut depends on it.

Why there is no single official size chart for adult clothing

Sizing standardization efforts exist in several markets, often based on anthropometric studies of the population, with the goal of unifying how sizes are named between brands. They are a real step toward a common reference, but in practice they do not replace each factory's own chart: there is no official document with exact circumferences and lengths, mandatory and uniform, that every brand has to copy size by size.

That is why each manufacturer builds and calibrates its own chart with its patternmaker and adjusts it with fit tests on its real audience: real bodies vary by age, region and segment, and so does commercial criteria, because a brand decides in advance whether its M fits closer or looser than another's. So there is no chart to download from the internet and apply as is: it works as a starting point, but the actual values have to be validated with your patternmaker and a sewn sample.

Structure of a size chart for adults (women and men)

To build your own chart, the first step is to define the columns before the numbers. This is a realistic, approximate structure used in the industry, for you to adapt with your own validated measurements, not an official chart with fixed values:

Structure of a size chart for kids

For kids the size is usually linked to a reference age or height, although what really defines it is the body measurement, not the child's exact age. An approximate column structure for kids is:

How to build it, validate it and use it to grade a pattern

Building the chart does not end with defining columns: you have to fill them with numbers that work for your audience, starting from a base size with real measurements and defining increments per size for each column (how much the bust grows, the length, the back width), not necessarily equal across columns or linear across the whole range. Those increments are the grading rule: grading is not enlarging evenly like a photocopier, but moving each point the distance the chart sets for that size.

The mandatory step before making production markers is the sample: sew the base size and at least one extreme, fit it on a real body or a dress form, and correct the chart if the fit is not what you expected, because if the base size or the progression is wrong, the error repeats across the whole range. In CAD (Optitex, Audaces, Gerber, Lectra) the rules are entered point by point and the program generates the full size range; by hand it is done point by point with the same logic.

The alternative: start from a pattern with the size range already done

Building your own chart, defining the progression and validating it with a sample is real work, which takes time and some trial-and-error cost. Modeltex digital patterns come with that part already solved: every pattern includes the size chart and the size progression already done (XS to 4XL for adults, 2 to 18 for kids) and approved with a sewn sample, as A4 PDF, plotter PDF or CAD formats such as DXF/AAMA, PDS and ADS.

If your brand already has its own chart, for example for uniforms with the measurements a school or company sent you, the route is custom patternmaking: the pattern is developed with your chart and your size range, and approved the same way with a sample before production markers are made.

Frequently asked questions

Printable industrial size chart

There is no single official industrial chart to print and apply as is: each manufacturer builds and calibrates its own for its audience and commercial criteria. You can build and print your own worksheet with the standard columns (size, bust or chest circumference, waist, hip, waist length, back width, arm circumference) and fill it in with measurements validated with a sample. Modeltex patterns, as an alternative, already include that chart and the progression.

What is an industrial size chart?

It is the worksheet that lists, size by size, the circumferences and lengths a factory uses to develop the base size and grade it to the rest of the size range. The patternmaker uses it to generate the sizes, the marker maker to check every cut piece and, in uniforms, the client to choose sizes without trying them on before receiving the order.

Is there an official size chart for clothing?

Not one with exact, mandatory measurements for adult clothing. Sizing standardization efforts, often based on anthropometric studies, aim for more consistent sizes between brands, but in practice each manufacturer still builds and validates its chart with its patternmaker and fit tests on its real audience.

What measurements should a size chart for women's or men's clothing have?

At a minimum: size, bust or chest circumference, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist length, back width and arm circumference. Those are the columns a patternmaker uses to develop the base size and grade the full size range; the values in each column vary by brand and have to be validated with a sample.

How do you build a size chart for kids' clothing?

You link each size to a reference age and approximate height, and add chest, waist and hip circumference. Age is only a guide: what determines the real size is the body measurement, so it is best to validate the chart with a sample before making markers for the whole size range.

How is the size chart used to grade a pattern?

The chart defines, for each column and each size, how far a point of the pattern has to move from the base size: that is the progression, not an even proportional enlargement, because circumference, length and armhole grow differently between sizes. In CAD those rules are entered point by point and the program generates the full size range from the chart.

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Sewing patterns ready for production, with the full size range, in the Modeltex catalog.