Your thoughts on Ottobre sizing?

[Resse]

Over the weekend I made DD a singlet from an ottobre pattern.
I measured her height - she is 92cm.

The pattern had a 92cm size, and so I sewed that one up.
I tried it on straight away, because I was soooo proud of my efforts!! The binding around the neck and arms was very easy to do - and it looks professional too!
Anyway, the fit was good (perhaps a little on the small side) - BUT.... I struggle getting it over her head!!
I need to make her some more, so was thinking the next size up, which is a 98cm (but that sounds really big!).
Is it the sewing which has caused the head hole to be rather tight?
Am I meant to use a special stitch for sewing stretchy material?

I am also in the middle of making a hoody/jacket for DD, and that size is also 92cm. We will see how that goes!

I am also making a hoody for DS, and I measured him. He is 104cm. The pattern starts at 104cm, and the next size up is 110cm.
Which size should I make? 110cm sounds waaay too big, but I am also not wanting to make something that is going to be on the smallish side.

TIA for your help!

[Lilly]

I've always found the sizing pretty accurate (and never too small, occassionally a bit big)

Does the neck hole stretch? If you're using stretch fabric then yes you usually use a stretch stitch too. So it could possibly be that. The instructions usually say I think.

[Resse]

How do I do stretch stitch on a sewing machine? I just used normal stitching!

[Darny]

Any zigzag type stitch will stretch, your straight stitch will probably break if you try and stretch it too much.
Also make sure to follow "greatest degree of stretch" when cutting out - as a rule the greatest stretch will be around the garment not up and down- been caught out by that and the garments won't stretch to fit over heads...

[Resse]

Any zigzag type stitch will stretch, your straight stitch will probably break if you try and stretch it too much.
Also make sure to follow "greatest degree of stretch" when cutting out - as a rule the greatest stretch will be around the garment not up and down- been caught out by that and the garments won't stretch to fit over heads...

The pattern said to straight stitch on the binding.

I have never heard of 'greatest degree of stretch'. Can you explain it a bit more? I followed the grain markings on the pattern

[Claire]

Depending on how you did your binding you may need to remove the seam allowance from the neck edges.
How does if fit apart from the neck?

[Resse]

Fits pretty well.
It is a singlet, so expected it to be snug fitting. Length etc.. is also good.
It sits nice on DD.

I used the same material as the singlet for the binding, as I didn't have any ribbing that matched. I used cotton lycra.

[Claire]

yeah.. you probably just need a bit more stretch in the neck seam.. or trim it a bit so its a larger circle

[justene]

this won't matter for neck hole but say my girl is 86cm height but a 74cm width,

for the neck binding your knit might not be as stretchy as what they've based the pattern on, so maybee just cut it a bit longer.

[littlejo]

I've found their sizing (based on height) to be fairly slim. But then, my DS is quite solid, so possibly better for average-slim kids. For DD, the sizing has been pretty good so far. She's also not tiny, but slightly slimmer build than DS.

One of DS's Ottobre tees was quite tight round the neck too, but he does have quite a big noggin. Had to get rid of some lovely PP tops when he was a toddler because I literally couldn't squeeze them on over his head. I've learnt to make his necklines a bit bigger!

[Resse]

OK thanks - this is good to know
Must remember it for next time too!

So do you all generally make the size of their height i.e. 92 cm child, make pattern size 92? Or the closest size up?

[cj]

Yep, I find it is very slim fit clothes. Works fine for my oldest boy, the others I make a size bigger for width, but for my daughter I make 3 sizes bigger for width but lengths of the size that I 'should' be making!

[littlejo]

I probably go almost 2 sizes up in width, and one size up in height! But that's for DS, and I like fairly loose-fitting clothes for him. And when there are patterns in there that say they are a slim fit, I just steer clear for him.

For DD, I stick pretty close to her own size for pants, and slightly lengthen tops (she seems a big longer in the body than legs). The pants I've made have been great for cloth butts too.

[caturn]

I have found the sizes a bit small for DD1 so now I base it on her measurements not her height and choose the size that suits her best, and its usually easy enough to adjust the hems if too long. I do likethat its easy enough to customise a pattern with one size at the top and another size lower down .

[Resse]

Great tips here!
Thank you so much!