Measurement Chart for Women: Fillable, Printable PDF

JUST A SAMPLE, the real thing is readable.

If you sew women's clothes, or want to, one essential element is a list of accurate body measurements. I simply cannot understate how important this is to have. In the interest of making my life easier and your life easier, I have made a chart of all the measurements you will need to make garments for any woman you measure.

This chart lists thirty-four separate dimensions of the body. Take them all or just take the ones needed for the garment you want. This chart has all the appropriate dimensions for tops, dresses, skirts, pants and shorts, jumpsuits, and outerwear. (Glove, shoe/sock, and bra-specific measurements not listed.)

You will never need another women's measurement chart.

Do you think I should modify this chart? Let me know in the comments!

This post has been reposted from original post date of 1/16/14, to share the new, updated chart.

• Spreadsheet version
• This file is just the chart.
• View, print, or save just the blank chart as a spreadsheet or PDF.
• Save a version to your own machine or cloud to fill out, modify, or whatever you want.
• PDF version
• This PDF has two pages: one is the chart, the other is a diagram guide.
• View, print, or save the blank chart.
• This PDF is a fillable form, save to your machine or cloud to fill out (if you use a mac and want it to stay filled out on another computer, use the save as PDF option in the print menu, won't be re-editable but will be readable).

Quick hit: Remove Annoying Garment Tags and Tacks!

 How to Remove Annoying Tags on Clothes

YOU CAN remove the single straight line of stitching to get this tag off!

We've all experienced giant, flappy, or worse, itchy garment tags. Good news, everybody! Many tags can be removed without damaging the garment and with hardly any effort.

1. Determine how the label is attached.
2. If attached with a single, independent line of stitches, rip out with seam ripper, razor blade, manicure scissors/clippers, etc.
3. There are only two steps!

YOU CAN remove the single straight line of stitching to get this tag out!

I like to use a seam ripper

Ta Da!

 Ivory garment and multicolored garment with black stitching: Examples of one independent line of stitching for just the tag; these tags are suitable for being removed.

DO NOT try to remove stitching to get this tag out!

Orange/white garment with orange stitching: Example of tag sewn on with a construction seam and NOT suitable for removal. This tag is installed in a serged seam (very common).

DO NOT try to remove stitching to get this tag out!

Purple garment: Example of tag sewn on with a construction seam and NOT suitable for removal. This tag is installed in a flat felled seam.
If you are very compelled to remove all tags because of special needs or extra sensitive skin, it is possible to rip apart a construction seam to get the tag out and restitch the seam with matching thread. This is more advanced but any person who sews or tailor/dry cleaner can easily do it. Obviously you can also just trim the tag down with scissors but I find this to be still itchy.

While we're at it...

Remove Ugly Thread Tacks!

Do you see the ugly thread tack? It's black and right in the middle.

I like to use a seam ripper.

Looks Great! A quick press will get those tiny holes to disappear.

Bonus content today is an example of a thread tack - the type used often in pants to hold on paper/cardboard size & brand labels for easy identification in store. These tacks are MEANT TO BE REMOVED. Use that trusty blade (seam ripper, razor blade, manicure scissors/clippers, etc.) to remove these little buggers and leave the house in style.

Image from RealMenRealStyle who are just as annoyed by this as I am

Dude, I recently watched a whole play where freaking Benedic (the lead in Much Ado About Nothing) had not removed the cross stitch from his obviously-new suit jacket. Child, you look silly. Remove this tack and you will look fly. If you're wondering why it's even there, it's so the garment hangs nicely on the rack and for ease of transport. BTW, temporary stitching is also used for pockets and lapels on jackets, pockets on pants, pleats in things like skirts, and holding the brand name label to the cuff of jackets and coats.
I will say my mum does not remove basting stitches on pants pockets because she prefers the smooth line of a no-pocket pant. Personally I use pockets all the time, whether for hands, or objects, and therefore automatically remove all basting stitches. Team pockets.

Don't watch old movies? This is what you should see...

Statuesque  villainess in Ministry of Fear

More often than I would have ever imagined, people tell me they don't watch old movies. Maybe I am the only person left who still makes a habit of going to the video store? You don't know what you're missing. Here are some ideas of where to get started.

Romantic Comedies

I think old romantic comedies are about 10 times more funny than modern ones. Maybe because the sexism seems appropriately old fashioned rather than cringy.
Pick any of these actors for a satisfying black-and-white romantic comedy

• Cary Grant
• Fred Astaire
• Katherine Hepburn
• Mae West, so glamorous
• Myrna Loy
• Audrey Hepburn

Or try these films

• The Philadelphia Story (1940) with Carey Grant, Katherine Hepburn and James Stewart
• Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Gary Cooper
• Easy Living (1937) with Jean Arthur
• Roberta with Fred Astaire is about a fashion designer. (Funny Face with Astaire and Audrey Hepburn as a photographer and model in Paris is not b/w but is thematic)
• Here Comes Mr. Jordan you know you want something funny and a little hokey for the holiday season
• Holiday themed romance: The Shop Around the Corner with James Stewart

Film Noir

It's imposingly French sounding, but the essence of the genre is simple. These movies were popular at the same time as racy detective and spy novels. Story-wise, films noir are gritty, exciting, and often require who-dunnit thinking on the part of the viewer. Fundamental to noir, however, is their visual style. These black and white movies were crafted very deliberately. Old cameras and lighting equipment were fussy, so that speaks to the time and care used in lighting (or shadowing) parts of a scene. The mysterious plots, with ambiguously evil characters, give substance to the extensive use of careful shadow. Good noir films have a lot of visual interest and a lot of thoughtful depth. If you like dramatic thrillers, tragedies, or suspense, check out noir. If you like photography, cinematography, or visual art in general, you should check out some of these classics.
If you don't want to mess around, pick something well recommended off a list:

• Fifty Noir Directors
• Essential Films Noir
• Noir and Neonoir

from The Killers (1946)

Some personal favorites:

• The Third Man
• Ministry of Fear
• Double Indemnity
• Touch of Evil (by genius director Orson Wells)
• The Maltese Falcon (with Humphrey Bogart, who is in a lot of noir)
• Clash by Night (by Fritz Lang with Barbara Stanwyck)
• and basically anything by Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock gives us noir shadows in The Wrong Man

More Black and White Winners

Black and white has practically become a genre. Kids these days, get off my lawn and so forth. Here are some extra credit movies to check out.

• Sunrise (1927) Very touching story.
• Freaks (1932) Whole movie available online for streaming or download. Timely moral.
• Pandora's Box (1929) Before racy movies were sanitized
• Wages of Fear (1953) Perfect for someone who thinks they only like "guy movies"
• speaking of guy movies how about They Drive by Night

Do you have a favorite black-and-white era star?

Polvorones de Naranja (Orange Cookies)

Polvorones de Naranja

Yield: 4 dozen cookies
Baking Temperature: 400°F
Baking Time: 10-15 min

Ingredients

4 C AP flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ C white sugar
2 sticks butter (room remperature)
4 large egg yolks
1 can/14oz sweetened condensed milk
zest of 1 orange
¼ C orange juice

Instructions

1. In medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda and sugar.
2. In large bowl, cream butter and egg yolks thouroughly.
3. Slowly add condensed milk to butter/eggs, then zest.
4. Slowly add the drys until they are all incorporated.
5. Finally mix in orange juice.
6. Flour a surface and roll out small quantities dough using a rolling pin to ¼ inch thickness or less (see below).
7. Cut 2" rounds using cookie cutter.
8. Gently transfer to baking sheet/silpat.
9. Bake 10-15 min at 400°F, will not brown much at all. Thin cookies take much less time to cook.
10. Cool 2 min on sheet (if soft) before transferring to wire rack to complete cooling.

Notes: The zest and juice requirements are more or less what one orange provides. This is a big recipe and expect to do several batches. Cookies will freeze fine in an airtight container. Undecorated this cookie is sophistacated and not overly sweet but (once cooled) a dusting of confectioner's sugar or a sugar cookie frosting are fun additions. Consider having the egg whites for breakfast...

Tool notes: In addition to your usual tools you will need a fine grater, a (hand) juicer, a rolling pin, and a cookie cutter. As you can see, I used stars but a round cutter would have more evenly colored edges. See pictures of these tools here.

About Rolled Cookies

I remember the first time I rolled out sugar cookies. It was just a few years ago and I did a lot of research on how to best go about it. I have to say that this recipe, while not really a sugar cookie, is much easier for a first-time roller as the dough is a lot less sensitive to the heat of your hands.

If you've never made a rolled cookie before but you've got your rolling pin all ready to go, here are my quick hints.

• Refrigerate dough for half an hour if it is too sticky to work with.
• Flour your work surface and pin as necessary. Keep cup of flour nearby.
• Find a BIG area for your work surface. I used my glass dining table. Granite, marble, or steel countertops are ideal.
• Lay out a piece (or two) of cling film (plastic wrap) on your work surface.
• Roll a (handful sized) ball of dough flat onto the plastic.
• Use the cutter all over your flat dough. Flour the cutter if it sticks.
• Peel the large pieces of scrap dough away.
• Lift the plastic wrap and with one hand under you can peel the cookies off easily (or lift wrap right up and slap the cookie onto the silpat/cookie sheet upside-down).
• Be careful about spilling flour on the top of your cookie because the flour will stay there despite baking.

Baker's Tools

I will try to keep this as cheap and simple as possible! Here are the tools I recommend having before you begin baking from scratch.

• electric mixer (handheld or stand)
• set of baking tins
• set of mixing bowls
• set of measuring spoons
• set of measuring cups
• pyrex-type microwave safe measuring cup (with pour spout)
• plastic or wooden mixing spoons
• whisk
• sieve/strainer
• pinch cups
• silpat (nonstick silicon mat for cookie sheet)
• oven glove or pot holder
• offset spatula
• wire cooling rack (grid style)

I used a cheap handheld electric mixer for years before my mum treated me to a stand mixer so don't worry about spending a lot on a mixer. It's easiest to find a set of baking tins in a dark nonstick coating. These are fine but be careful to not scratch the surface with metal tools. Wooden spoons tend to take on flavors of strong foods (like garlic) so keep a separate set just for baking. Pinch cups might seem pointless but they save a lot of time being handy for keeping lots of small ingredients in order and cracking eggs. Offset spatulas look like they're just for frosting cakes but they are the best thing ever for lifting cookies from the mat because they are thin and flexible. Finally, cooling racks have to have wires pretty close together and cheap parallel bars racks just don't cut it.

So that's the list of the things I started with or wish I started with. Additional tools such as bakeware (crockery type), rolling pins, cookie cutters etc will be discussed as we come to them.

Need a visual aide? Here are photos of all these items!

The Baker's Pantry

If you want to bake something up without a trip to the store, there are certain things you ought to keep around.

• all purpose flour (aka AP flour or plain flour)
• baking soda
• baking powder
• salt (I use iodized salt for baking)
• white sugar (aka caster sugar)
• soft brown sugar
• eggs
• unsalted butter
• vanilla essence
• powdered cocoa
• powdered sugar (aka confectioners sugar or icing sugar)
• cinnamon

I also tend to have the following handy.

• milk
• cupcake cups
• chocolate chips
• oats
• raisins
• food coloring

So if you want to start baking things from scratch I suggest starting here!