Sewing For Plus Size Children

My friend has a 9 year old daughter who has a 36" chest, 34" tummy and 38" hips. Buying pre-made clothes for her is impossible since a skirt that fits in the waist has a length that goes past the feet, and long sleeves hang several inches below her fingers in order to get a size that fits in the chest and shoulders. My friend decided to try making some clothes, only to find similar problems with patterns. Thinking the new "plus" sizes would fit, she was disappointed to find that, while a 16 Plus would fit the chest, the "waistline" hung about 2-3 inches below her waist, the skirt length was way too long, the neck and armholes were much too large and the shoulder width fell way off the shoulder. After all, the measurements used in the store-bought patterns are for a "chubby" 16 year old, they're not designed for an extra chubby 9 year old. Knowing that I teach and sell pattern making books and classes, my friend came to me for help in getting something to fit her daughter. We took the child's measurements, then proceeded to make a pattern from "scratch" using her own measurements as a guide.

My friend was so disgusted with the way the plus size 16 dress turned out that she absolutely was NOT going to waste more material on another dress!!

I figured it was time to prove a point with her, as well as others that might have questions about the plus size children's patterns.  I used a regular commercial size 10 skirt pattern, whose measurements said 24" waist and 32" hips, and made a skirt (the pink one).  I then used our Plus Size Children size 10 pattern, with measurements of 32" waist and 38" hips and made a skirt (the burgendy one).  The following picture compares the two "size 10" skirt patterns.



As you can readily see, the skirts are the same length.  Whether the size 10 girl is skinny, regular size or overweight, they're normally about the same height - just a major difference in the WIDTH of the hips and waist.  After seeing my "show and tell" skirts for a size 10 regular and overweight size child, she was definitely ready to try another skirt - this time using my size 10 plus size children pattern.  We did do a minor adjustment to the pattern as her daughter had a 34" waist and our size 10 had a 32" waist, but the rest fit perfectly

The difference between the plus size children patterns and the regular commercial patterns is that we had accumulated the actual measurements of overweight children from our customers for over a year, then got them all into a data base, from which we made the patterns.  So, as you look at the patterns on the Plus Size Children site, you'll see the actual "plus size" measurements for each age grouping, and if you compare YOUR child's measurements to them, you'll see that they're pretty much on target for what your plus size child's measurements are.  Every pattern on the plus size children site has been made using the actual measurements of overweight children.

If you have a plus size child or know of somebody who does, you could be doing yourself or them a real favor by trying one of the patterns, and see how much easier it is to sew for the plus size children.

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