How to build your own industrial measurement chart

What you will learn

Learn to build, step by step, your own industrial measurement chart: define the columns, choose a base size with real measurements, calculate the size-by-size progression and validate it with a sample before grading the pattern across the whole size range. This lesson is the practical part (unlike "What is industrial patternmaking" in module 1, which already explains what a size range is): here we go straight to how you build the chart yourself.

Before you start

Have a blank spreadsheet at hand (paper or Excel/Sheets) and, if you can, an already sewn garment or a base pattern as a reference to fill in the first row of your chart.

Concept

An industrial measurement chart is the spreadsheet that fixes, size by size, the circumferences and lengths of the finished garment: it is the basis for developing the pattern of your starting size and grading it across the rest of the size range with consistent rules. It is not the same as taking the measurements of one specific person, nor is it the simplified two- or three-measurement guide a brand publishes for consumers: the industrial one has more columns because how the fabric is cut depends directly on it. There is no single official size chart for adult apparel that you can copy as-is: sizing standards exist in some markets and aim to bring sizes closer across brands, but they don't replace each manufacturer's own chart. That is why building yours, calibrated with your patternmaker and tested with a sample, is a required step if you are going to produce in series.

Lesson content

Define the columns for women and men

The first step is not filling in numbers: it is deciding what you will measure in each size. That structure is what your patternmaker later uses to develop the base size and grade the whole size range.

If it's for kids, the structure changes

In children's clothing the size is usually shown tied to an age or height (size 8, size 10), but what really defines it is the body measurement, not the child's exact age.

Choose your base size and add the grading progression

With the columns defined, you start from a base size with real measurements (not estimated) and from there define how much each column grows (or shrinks) at each size in the range: those increments are the progression.

The progression doesn't have to be the same across columns, or linear along the whole range: the bust can grow differently from the waist length, and the jump between S and M doesn't have to be the same as between L and XL. Grading is not enlarging evenly like a photocopier, but moving each point of the pattern the exact distance your chart gives for that size.

Validate with a sample before making markers in series

Before making markers for the whole size range, sew the base size and at least one extreme size, and test them on a real body or a mannequin.

If the fit isn't what you expected, correct the chart right there: if the base size or the progression has an error, that error is repeated in every size of the range.

Load the rules into your software, or do it by hand

In CAD programs such as Optitex, Audaces, Gerber or Lectra, the progression rules are loaded per pattern point and the software automatically generates the full size range from your chart.

If you work by hand, the procedure is the same, point by point: you apply to each point of the base pattern the increment you defined in the chart for that size.

Step by step

  1. Define the columns of your chart according to the type of garment: for women and men, size, bust or chest circumference, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist length, back width and arm circumference; for kids, reference age and height plus chest, waist and hip circumference.
  2. Choose your base size and fill in that row with real measurements, not estimated ones.
  3. Define the increment you will add to (or subtract from) each column for every size you move away from the base (the progression), knowing that it can vary between columns and need not be linear along the whole range.
  4. Develop or adjust the base size pattern with those measurements.
  5. Sew the base size and at least one extreme size of the range, and test them on a real body or a mannequin.
  6. Correct the chart and the progression if the fit isn't what you expected, before grading the rest of the sizes.
  7. Load the progression rules into your software (Optitex, Audaces, Gerber, Lectra) or apply them by hand, point by point, to generate the full size range.

Practical example

If you don't want to build the progression from scratch: Modeltex digital patterns already include the measurement chart and the size grading done (XS to 4XL in adults, 2 to 18 in kids), approved with a sewn sample, available as PDF A4, PDF plotter or CAD formats such as DXF/AAMA, PDS and ADS.

Common mistakes

Thinking there is an official size chart you can download from the internet and apply as-is: There is no mandatory official chart for adult apparel: sizing standards exist in some markets and aim for more consistent sizes across brands, but each manufacturer builds and calibrates its own with its patternmaker and its real audience.

Grading the pattern evenly, like a photocopier, instead of applying a per-point progression: Each column (bust, length, back width...) can grow a different amount per size: load the progression point by point according to what you defined in the chart, not the same percentage across the whole pattern.

Making markers for the whole size range without first sewing and testing a sample: Sew the base size and at least one extreme size, test it on a real body or a mannequin, and correct the chart before grading the rest: an error in the base or in the progression is repeated across the whole range.

Modeltex tip

If your brand already has its own chart (for example for uniforms, with the measurements provided by the school or the company) you don't need to start from scratch: in made-to-order patternmaking the pattern is developed with your own chart and your own size range, and it is approved the same way with a sample before making markers for series production.

Exercise

Pick a simple garment (a t-shirt or a pair of pants, for example) and build the skeleton of your own chart: write down the columns you will use, define which will be your base size and fill in that row with the real measurements of a garment you already have or of your own body. You don't need to define the full progression of the whole range yet: it is enough to have the starting point set up.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I start when building my measurement chart?

With the columns, not the numbers: first define what you will measure (size, bust or chest circumference, waist, hip, waist length, back width and arm circumference) and only then fill in each column with validated real measurements.

Do the increments between sizes always have to be the same?

Not necessarily: each column can grow a different amount per size, and those increments are not necessarily linear along the whole range. That is why it is worth reviewing the progression point by point, not applying a fixed rule from memory.

Can I make markers for the whole size range as soon as I finish filling in the chart?

No: first you have to sew the base size and at least one extreme size, test it on a real body or a mannequin and correct the chart if the fit fails. If the base size or the progression has an error, it is repeated across the whole range.

Do I need CAD software to build the progression?

It is not required: in programs like Optitex, Audaces, Gerber or Lectra the rules are loaded per point and the software generates the full size range, but by hand it can be done point by point with the same logic.

Is the chart for kids built the same way as the one for adults?

The structure is simpler: the size is tied to a reference age and approximate height, and chest, waist and hip circumference are added. The age is only a guide (the real size is defined by the body measurement).

Summary

Building your own industrial measurement chart has concrete steps: you define the columns according to the garment and the audience (women/men or kids), choose a base size with real measurements, calculate how much each column grows from size to size (the progression, which is not the same across columns nor necessarily linear along the whole range), validate it all by sewing and testing the base size and an extreme, and only then load the rules into your software or apply them by hand to generate the full size range.

Go back to the full course or ask the Modeltex Lab AI.