Imagine if a garment had no ease and were sewn to the exact measurements of your body. It would be like a second skin. No thanks, right? If you were drafting a simple sloper, then absolutely…draft it to your measurements. That’s how it’s supposed to be done! That brings me to the topic of ease. Ease refers to the difference between the finished measurement of the garment and the measurements of the wearer’s body.
There are two basic kinds of ease: wearing ease and design ease. Well, maybe there are a few more instances where is used. For example; in a sleeve cap. But, let’s talk about wearing and design ease.
What is ease?
Ease is the amount of extra fabric that is built into a sewing pattern to allow the garment to fit in a relaxed position. A woven pattern would have a positive amount, where a knit pattern could have either a negative or positive amount. Let’s take a closer look.
Wearing Ease
With woven fabrics, the garment needs to be at least somewhat larger than the body; otherwise we would not be able to move in our clothing, right!? This difference is referred to as wearing ease.
Essentially, it is the minimum amount of room added to a garment so that the garment feels comfortable and provides ease of movement for normal body movement. Basically, it is the number of inches added in addition to the actual bodies measurements. Again, this can be thought of as comfort room. We all have a certain way we like our clothes to fit and it’s not exactly the same person to person.
With that said, the commercial pattern industry generally states that wearing ease is recommended to be 2 1/2″ (6.4cm) at the bust area, 1″ (2.5cm) at the waist and 3″ (7.6cm) at the hip area.
Design Ease
Design ease is any extra space that is purposely added to a garment by the designer to achieve a certain look, or drape. How much or how little is added will determine the silhouette of a garment; whether it will be close-fitting, fitted, semi-fitted, loose-fitting or very loose-fitting and is often added in addition to wearing ease.
Working With Knits
With knit fabrics, the garment’s finished measurement is often equal the wearer’s body measurements, but, this is not always the case. The knit fabrics structure, stability, and its percentage of stretch will provide a guideline for the ideal amount to add or not to add. Some fashion knit tops on the market today purposely have an excess of positive ease to create an attractive drape, movement, and comfort.
Read more about knit fabrics and learn the one thing you need to know about knit fabrics.
Negative + Positive
Garments made out of very stretchy fabrics, such as spandex leotards, may actually be made smaller than the body. Negative ease is often found in garments such as active wear and swimsuits. That’s because the fit is partially obtained as the fabric stretches around the body. Positive ease, as stated above, can be used for both knit and woven fabrics. However, it is a required in woven fabrics to achieve ease of movement.
How to add ease
It’s pretty simple to add to a sloper or sewing pattern. Simply add the desired amount to the pattern and then blend and true your seams! Watch the video to find out more…
Loose recommendations…
Bust area – Add 2 to 4 inches to the bust measurement. The larger the bust and body size the more ease to factor in. Waist area – Add ½ to 1 ½ inches to allow for turning around, bending and raising arms. Hip area – Add 2 to 4 inches, again, the larger the body size or give of the fabric, the more ease to consider.
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Thank you for your video. How do you handle the arm hole on front and back once you’ve added ease at the side seam? In other words, doesn’t adding 1/2″ mean the arm hole is now larger? Thank you?
I think I understand wearing ease and how to add it but I think it would be very useful to see a variety of garments that have various degrees of “design ease” and to specify how much design ease is included in each, just as an example. For example, I would look at a blouse that I like and have ZERO idea how much design ease to add to my sloper to get that look. I would find that really useful.
Does adding ease on the side affect the placement of the dart? In other words why isn’t some of the ease added at the center fold line too?
You don’t want to add ease to the centers because you would be increasing the neck measurement and adjusting the dart placement. There is more to consider when adding extra space to the center. It can be done, but you have to really pay attention to what else is being affected.
It is better to add it at the side because you have more control over where the ease will fall. If you want to add a bit more ease into the center of your garment, you could also take a smaller dart and that would allow some more ease in your waist.
This method does not affect the positioning of shoulder darts or waist darts, but it would affect bust darts or French darts. If this were done on a pattern with one of those, extending outwards from the sewing line would end up changing the width of the dart, which would change the length of the side seam (meaning it wouldn’t match the back piece anymore). This effect can be avoided by slashing and spreading your pattern by the needed amount just inside the seam line and re-drawing the dart legs.
The ease isn’t added at the center because it would change the shape of the neckline and affect the positioning of vertical darts. It would also affect how the garment sits on your shoulders – the highest point of the shoulder would sit farther out on the body; because of the way shoulders slope, this would make the entire garment sit lower on your body.
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Hi, I have been working on patternmaking of activewear these days and need to ask something. This website is very informative on patterns, but I need to know a bit more of ease allowance. I totaly understand how to add ease (and also negative ease as well) horizontally. But there should also be vertical eases such as crotch. Do you have any recommendation about that kind of ease allowance standards? Many thanks in advance.
Knits/Stretch fabric ease is all based on the percent of stretch that the fabric has that you are using. Some fabrics only stretch one direction, so you would only take negative ease on the horizontal circumference. You would leave the vertical ease as is because there is not stretch that way. If there is stretch in both directions of the fabric, there is usually on way that will stretch more. I would personally start with a 10% ease reduction if it is very stretchy, maybe just a 5% if it doesn’t stretch as much. Then definitely test fit/mock up to see how to adjust further. Hope this helps!
I’ve sewn since I was 10, and by age 13 knew that sewing, and making fabric was my destiny. I sewed for family, my self and the general public for years, but only since a tragic incident in 2015 forced my retirement (at age 71), and after a period of recovery have I been able to concentrate on my pursuits, as I want to realize them, not to please others. Now I am 75 I am having so much fun learning, and designing clothes that I want to wear. I am so happy to have found this website!
I have been patternmaking for a few years now and I understand ease when it comes to wovens and knits. However, what about stretch wovens? I have some stretch denims and stretch cottons I would like to use for pants. How would I figure in ease for that? I know it is based on the woven sloper and not my knit one, but I don’t know if it is still negative ease in places? Thank you.
I’d calculate the percentage of stretch and then reference this guide – http://isntthatsew.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/US08789284-20140729-D00000.png
Here is one for knits – http://isntthatsew.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ease-knits.jpg
Hi Ruth,
Above you mention the recommended wearing ease in the commercial pattern industry, are these generally interchangeable between positive wearing ease with wovens and negative wearing easy with knits? If so, for negative wearing ease how much would the recommended figures be adapted depending on the percentage of stretch of the fabric? Totally understand that it’s dependent on what you want the style/fit to be but I’m unsure what to use as an initial starting point.
Thank you!
Hi Becca,
Thanks for your comment. Okay, this can be a difficult topic to discuss … That’s why usually I tell people to experiment! The more you do – the more intuitive it becomes. With that said…I have this handy chart for you… Let me know if you have any questions… http://isntthatsew.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ease-knits.jpg
Thanks so much, this will certainly be a good starting point!
Yeah, it’s a little overwhelming…but, you’ll be able to see the trends! 🙂
Hello, I understand the part about adding ease to the side seam, but I am confused about the shoulder and armhole. If I add 1.25 inches to the side, what do I add to the shoulder? I am trying to draft a dress like this one from my bodice sloper: https://www.hkm.nyc/collections/lady-chatterleys-lover/products/ivy-dress#
Thanks!
Hi there, to be honest…there is no right answer! It’s entirely up to you and directly related to the type of fit you’re after. You most likely won’t add too much ease to the shoulder because you want it to still ‘fit’…
Hi, I’m new to sewing and I’m having problems understanding what the negative ease is on knit patterns. Every time I follow my body measurements on a pattern, it turns out huge on me. I’m using the correct fabric recommendations and they still turn out too big. I’ve searched every where for an explanation and can’t find anything. Would you be able to make a blog post or a video talking about this. I would be forever grateful!!
Hi Martha – So, negative ease in knits. It can be confusing – no worries…I totally understand.
Basically, if you want the garment to be tight (meaning it stretches to fit – like a sports bra or leggings) then you would use negative ease. If you want it to have a lot of drape – like a loose fitting knit top – then you would use positive ease. ALL woven fabrics use positive ease. But, with knits it is more of a preference based on desired fit, style, and design.
It would help me if I knew what kind of garment you are making…Let me know so I can better assist you!
Do you know much about ease for children’s blocks? I’m currently drafting a Winifred Aldrich body block for a 2 year old and struggling. I’ve made it, the chest measurement is 57cm but the block comes out at 66cm!
She says that the width of the block is 1/4 chest and then to add 3cm – this equates to 12cm ease! Do you think it might instead intend you to add 3cm to the chest measurement before dividing by 4 to find a quarter? This would equate to a total of 3cm ease in the chest.
TIA!
Hi Tori,
I’ve heard that the Aldrich books add to much ease for children. What kind of fabric are you using? A woven? If so, maybe reduce it by half?
Simply and well-said. Needed brushing up. For a skirt, would suggest 10in-40cm hip ease for no stretch. Thank you.
I think that is probably too much. I’d say anywhere from 2-6 inches, depending on preference would be ideal for a pencil skirt.