Standard sizing information and grading resources for crochet garment designers

This post includes a range of resources for crochet designers looking to learn how to design crochet garments for a range of sizes. It includes standard sizing for crochet garments, resources for learning about crochet garment construction and learning to grade crochet garments.

If you are new to designing crochet garments and want an introduction to designing crochet clothes, my article; how to design simple crochet clothes in 7 steps may help you get started.

When learning how to design and size grade crochet garments, I really struggled to find resources to help me through the process in a simple way.

I pieced together bits here and there, learned a lot from knitting resources (even though I don’t really knit) and even more from trial and error.

I often get asked about sizing and how I ‘grade’ my crochet patterns (that is do the maths to write them in a range of sizes), so I have compiled a list of crochet sizing resources which I use regularly.

I’ve also made some suggestions of other design related courses or learning materials you may wish to explore.

One day I may well create my own course covering these topics, but for now, I figured the best way I can serve the crochet community is to share the resources that I have found helpful.

These include those that I have created for my own reference and others that I have come across on my journey (I’m always looking to learn more).

This post is aimed at those with an interest in furthering their crochet knowledge either to design for their own crochet projects pleasure or professionally.

I have not purchased or tried all of the paid options discussed, so please note that mentioning those here doesn’t necessarily mean I endorse them. I just want to make you aware of what’s out there.

None of the links are affiliate links so I am not being paid to recommend any of these items. They are simply offerings I have come across that I think look interesting or I have heard others recommend. If I have tried a paid course, I will make this clear.

There are a lot more design resources out there for knitters than crocheters, so some of the resources I recommend are knit focused, but you can extrapolate what you need and apply it to crochet without much knitting experience.

I hope you find this useful!

Resources for crochet garment sizing

There are two stalwart resources for standard body sizes in the crochet design industry that I have seen mentioned, and used myself over and over again. They are the Craft Yarn Council Standards and the Ysolda sizing chart which are both free resources that give standardised body measurements for a range of sizes.

Craft Yarn Council Standards

The Standard Measurements / Sizing Charts include sizes for women, men and children and are the measurements which I base the majority my sizing on, a starting point if you like.

There is also a host of other crochet related information on this site, so if you are a maker, freestyler, new or seasoned designer, I recommend you familiarise yourself with the contents.

Put it in your favourites as you will visit it often.

Ysolda’s sizing chart

Ysolda’s sizing chart for knitwear designers is a great sizing resource, put together for knitwear but also suitable for crochet design.

It has a wider range of measurements than the craft yarn council standards and has been complied from a combination of sources.

The Ysolda post also contains lots of useful information which you’ll want to consider when thinking about sizing such as precision and measurement conversions. This site is well worth a look (and an add to your favourites).

I generally use a combination of these two size charts for all my grading. Where the CYC fails, I default to Ysolda.

ASTM Standard Sizing

It is also possible to purchase detailed global industry sizing standards. These are the sizes used by the fashion industry to grade garments on a much larger scale.

As my desire to constantly improve fit increases, I will most likely purchase a set of these at some stage in the next 12 months but as yet have managed with free resources.

Courses / ebooks on sizing for crochet design

There is an ebook which has been on my to-buy list for too long, which looks at body measurements and sizing for crochet design.

It’s called Body Basics from the Lindesy Life and looks at measuring, fit and ease. One of the biggest appeals for me here is actually the schematics add-on which you can get as a bundle (see my thoughts on garment construction below).

Sizing for specific body parts

Head and crochet hat sizing

Though standard head sizes are available on the CYC site, I have written a detailed post on hat sizing, and how I approach it here.

This also includes a downloadable version of my hat size chart (which will give you stitch counts for any gauge). You can get a PDF version of this size chart for free when you sign up for the WiP Tip via the specific link in the article.

Hand sizing – for crochet mittens and gloves

Like many of the resources found on this site, I have put together my own version from multiple sources as the need for that information arose.

Hand size guidance is given on the cyc site but is a little limited, so I have combined their resource with a range of others to create a hand sizing chart for gloves and mittens. The chart includes hand and wrist circumference and hand length.

You can find my hand sizing chart here which was originally collated when I designed the mighty mits fingerless gloves and has been updated for 2021.

Foot sizing – for crochet socks, slippers and booties

Again, when designing socks, I compiled my own foot size chart for sock sizing, which is what I use to grade my sock patterns.

It includes shoe size categories and actual foot measurements.

The post also looks at how to adjust crochet sock sizing for a custom fit. Remember that when making socks, you will want negative ease – that is the sock should be smaller than the foot it’s designed to fit.

The article also includes a separate size chart for baby feet sizes for booties. Again compiled from multiple sources, all detailed in the post.

General resources for crochet garment design

The best crochet design course I ever took was a crochet garment design course by Shannon Mullett-Bowlsby from the Shibaguyz.

I took it on Blueprint (if my memory serves), which is no more, but after some googling, I found that it is still available on Interweave – click here for more info.

Interweave in general is an excellent authoritative site for crochet topics. I thank google every time it takes me there!

I recommend a couple of crochet design books in my favourite crochet books list, so I won’t repeat those here.

I would add a new design book I have recently purchased on recommendation, though it is a knitting book… like so many of my design resources.

It is called the ‘knitwear design workshop’ and it’s by Shirley Padden. I have not linked to it as generally it’s only available from second hand bookstores, so will leave you to investigate where it may be available closer to you.

I would add that Shirley Padden also has a class on Craftsy which covers some of the content of this book too. I am working my way through the two together.

I have also recently discovered Sister mountain, a knitwear designer who teaches knitters how to design garments. Yes, this is knitting again, but the blog has an incredible amount of useful design related information. I went down quite a rabbit hole and learned all sorts just in the 15 minutes I spent checking out her site after someone recently recommended it to me as a resource.

I may not know what bind off’s are but I can extrapolate the principles and apply them to crochet. Or at least try to! (Trial and error is an integral part of being a self taught designer and is, in my experience absolutely the best way to learn – even if it takes longer!)

Putting a single course together on ‘crochet garment design’ is a challenge because it incorporates so much. Courses tend to be broken down into constituent parts rather than one over arching class…

I wrote this post introducing crochet garment design and each section could have a whole book written about it! But it’s a place to start and to identify which areas you may want to explore in more detail.

Learning about garment construction and shapes

Garment construction styles was one of my biggest challenges when I started designing crochet wearables.

I put together a post explaining the most common garment construction styles and wrote a lot about top-down construction as my experience grew too.

For each style of construction there are many variations, so this topic can go pretty deep.

My advice when it comes to understanding construction is seeking out schematics (hence my interest in the Schematics Templates offered by the Lindsay Life mentioned earlier)

Another great source of information is your wardrobe – I always advocate looking at how those items you love are constructed. Then you can search out crochet patterns, or create designs which mirror a construction style which you already know ‘works’ for you.

Learning how to grade garments

Grading is the process of extending crochet patterns to cover multiple sizes. It’s largely a mathematical process but does require human decision making.

Most designers use spreadsheets to do the heavy lifting on this one and if you’re doing it by hand (as I did when I first started designing) then I strongly recommend learning how to use spreadsheets!

I offer a tech editing service to other designers and newer designers often ask me about simple ways to grade garments.

Edie Eckman who is a crochet teacher has a number of classes aimed at crochet designers. She has a range of classes which newer designers would find helpful, including a new one on sweater design and spreadsheets.

I haven’t taken any of her classes but have been on zoom lives with her and she is exceptionally knowledgable and experienced. Her class catalog is extensive so well worth a look if you’re not familiar with her work – maths for crocheters and pattern writing caught my eye in the context of this post.

Tian Connaughton also has a pattern grading course for crochet and knit patterns as well as a ‘how to grade using excel’ course which assumes you already have knowledge of grading. She has a range of other business related services for designers, though those are beyond the scope of this discussion. I’ve not tried her classes but she is very active on instagram if you want to learn more.

There are more grading courses which seem to focus on knitting, but the principles can be applied to crochet. Some courses only open once a year, such as Jill Wallcot’s A system of grading, Sister Mountain’s Sweater Design School, and the Master Class on Grading from The tech editor hub.

Be aware that many of these course are fairly costly – grading is a complex skill to teach (one of the reasons I haven’t tried it so far!). Though I don’t doubt investing in these skills is worthwhile, especially if maths isn’t something that comes to you intuitively.

Emily Reciter of Fiat Fibre arts is a crochet tech editor who offers a more affordable ebook introducing grading. I have not seen the details of the ebook but have worked with a designer who used the spreadsheet. Whilst it’s a great spreadsheet for tech editing designs, it does require some confidence and understanding of spreadsheets in order to apply it to creating a design.

It’s nuanced, but there is a difference between using a spreadsheet to create a design and using a spreadsheet to check that all the numbers in a design are correct. In the first case you are essentially creating a map, in the second case you are simply reading it and checking it takes you where it’s supposed to!

I actually think it’s impossible to create a spreadsheet that will work as a grading template for all designs. As sizes increase, measurements do not increase proportionately, so it’s not as simple as adding x sts or rows for each increase in size or just inputting a couple of numbers and letting the spreadsheet do the work.

The truth is that there is no one size fits all approach to grading. It requires both basic maths but also intuition and designer intervention.

I have a grading spreadsheet template which I have developed over the years but only the very basics are the same on it. With each design, the spreadsheet grows to accommodate the needs of that particular project so no two ever look the same.

A final thought about learning to design crochet garments

Part of designing garments is understanding what’s happening ‘under the hood,’ for want of a better way of putting it.

Most of the time there is not one right answer, there are a range of possibilities and it’s your decision as a designer to assess each one and choose what will work to bring your creation to life.

That for me is where the magic happens and it’s amazing when it works! Because many times it doesn’t work and you have to pull everything out and start over. But you will have learned a new way not to make a sweater.

Trial and error and failure and frogging are a huge part of the learning process. In fact, failure and course correction is the most effective way to learn. There is scientific support for that statement, it’s not just a platitude!

4 years in to designing garments, I am still failing and loving it!

So please remember to be patient with yourself on your own journey!

On that note, I will let you continue.

I hope you find these resources helpful and if you have any you have found that you would like to share, please do drop them in the comments or message me and I will add them in 🙂

Happy Hooking!

Dx

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