30/04/2025
(Abridged version from my new blog www.ultimatepinupvintage.com)
I love vintage knitting patterns, especially ones from the 1930s, 40s & 50s, however with a 43 inch chest, I struggled to find patterns from this time period that would fit.
Desperate to knit & wear the lovely patterns I had in my collection, I started to look into how to size them up.
The obvious first port of call was good old Google where I came across subversivefemme.com and vintageknittingparty.com which both give tips on how to resize vintage knitting patterns.
Using a measuring tape, measure around the fullest part of your bust/chest .
Divide your bust measurement by the finished size of the garment as stated in the pattern. This will give you a factor for example 40 inches divided by 32 = 1.25
Multiply the original stitch count by this factor to help you know how many stitches to cast on
1.25 x 100 stitches = 125 stitches
Always check the tension and finished garment size measurements when sizing up.
For example, I divide my 43 inch chest measurement by a finished garment measurement of 32 inches
43 divided by 32 = 1.34 (the factor)
The original stitch count is 60, multiplied by 1.34 = 80.4, so I cast on 80 stitches.
Always remember to check the tension and also increase the length of the garment as well as the width.
I increase the length by 3/8 of an inch for every 2 inch bust increase (for example, 34, 36, 38 etc), so the difference between 32 inch bust and a 42 bust is 5.
3/8 of an inch is 0.375 as a fraction, so I used this number to multiply it by 5.
0.375 x 5 = 1.87 inches
I round the total up to 2 inches, and increase the garment length from 18 inches in the original pattern to 20 inches. I knitted these extra two inches before the armhole shaping, which leads nicely to...Increase armhole depth
Again with a bigger bust, it's not only the width but the length that needs increasing.
While researching, I came across this great site by Craft Yarn Council. They have tips on how to take your measurements for knitwear, and goes into more detail about fit, including negative and positive ease.
They also have a handy size chart with average measurements in inches and cm. Chest sizes included in this chart start from 28 inch all the way to 62 inch.
This chart has been vital in helping me size up my knitting.
As my bust measured 43 inches, I fell in-between Large (40-42) and X-Large (44-46) on their chart.
The armhole depth for Large was 7.5-8 inches and for X- Large was 8-8.5 inches, so I knitted the armhole depth to 8 inches, before shaping/casting off for the shoulders.
These websites have been so important in helping me size up and gave me the confidence to apply what I had learnt to more complex patterns, which I will share in future posts.
I hope what I've shared 1) makes sense and 2) helps you to size up patterns to fit you.
For the full article with links to websites mentioned, please visit my blog www.ultimatepinupvintage.com
