Reply To: What is “negative ease”

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

Hi there,
Because they’re requiring a knit for this project, they’re counting on it having a certain amount of stretchiness. Because of this stretch, it already has some built in ease so if you were to measure, say, the bustline area of the pattern, it may come up 2″ smaller than your actual bustline measurement. If you use the appropriate fabric and size, then your shirt will still fit since the fabric stretches. Sometimes on the back of the pattern, there will be a guide to measure the stretchiness of your fabric to make sure it’ll work for this pattern. Some fabrics are stretchier than others so you definitely should follow this guide. I wouldn’t worry too much about it and just follow the body measurement chart for finding your size. They’ve already done the work of developing the pattern and taking the ease into account. If anything, I would make your first attempt a muslin, using a cheap similar fabric, and then just baste your pieces together enough so you can try it on. That way you’ll get a pretty good idea of the fit before using more expensive fabrics. I hope this helps! 🙂