Sewing for a growing baby

November 15, 2011 12:39 PM

My mother is currrently in Asia and wants her tailor there to make a sack dress for my baby. The tailor wants to know - neck size - chest - length (from base of neck to a hand's breadth above the knee) BUT...baby will be wearing this next summer, when she will be a year and two or three months old, and I have no idea how big she will be!

You can help me if
- you know some internet resources about average measurements for toddlers / babies
- you have a child in that age range and some measuring tape near you

Baby Nom is currently on the large-ish side of normal (she just grew out of Euro size 68 and weighs about 8 Kilograms, at 6,5 months). I suspect she'll won't be tiny in summer, either.

Also, even if you think this is a really stupid idea please help me because my mother will do it anyway and I'd rather have vague data than none at all! Thank you very much for the help.

posted by Omnomnom to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

I don't have any data, but why not figure out the approximate size, then add a couple extra inches to everything? It might not fit her next summer, but she'll eventually grow into it - much better to be too big than too small.
posted by insectosaurus at 12:41 PM on November 15, 2011

the Craft Yarn Council's baby body measurements chart

how to measure (and links to other charts)
posted by peachfuzz at 12:44 PM on November 15, 2011

Wow, thanks peachfuzz!
posted by Omnomnom at 12:52 PM on November 15, 2011

I had a daughter that was bigger than predicted size and now a grand-daughter is smaller than predicted size. Here's kind of how I do things. Based on what Baby Nom is wearing now, is it on target, or bigger or smaller than what the size says on the garment? Now go to a store and look at 12 months or 18 months sizes and measure those. Bodies don't always get all that much thicker but length-wise is where, in my experience, most of the growth happens. Plus there's always accomodation for nappies(diapers). Best to get something with a deep hem length-wise, that can be let out as the kid grows.
posted by PJMoore at 12:54 PM on November 15, 2011

Ask your pediatrician for a copy of her growth chart. That will give you an idea of how her growth is trending (50th percentile? 90th? Started low but jumped up?) and you can use the chart to extrapolate approximately where she'll be next summer. Add 10% or so for error and you should be good to go.
posted by Flannery Culp at 2:00 PM on November 15, 2011

Thank you! The funny thing is, I told my mother that it was going to be difficult to figure out the measurements and she said, "You know what? You should ask the internet!"

So I guess I did that and mom was right.
posted by Omnomnom at 3:22 PM on November 15, 2011

Are you sure the tailor isn't already planning to take growth into account, and therefore you will end up with a sack dress large enough for Toddler Nom?
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:08 PM on November 15, 2011