Knit to Fit, Fit to Knit: Where my sweater hem should hit? - Part 1
The lengths series: I meant to write this blog as one piece. I already drew the figures two weeks ago. However, something (cough Procrastination! cough) has kept me from finishing the article. So I’m going to publish whatever written first and make it as three short blogs. Otherwise, I won’t publish anything at all. 😅
Part 1: The Lengths in a nutshell — common jumper (or any shirts) lengths in measurements.
Part 2: The lengths explained — 3 jumper lengths explained in details and including how we look in them. (Standard, Cropped, and High Hip)
Part 3: The lengths explained — The rest: Hip & Mid Thigh.
Also, I will only talk about women’s measurements here in this blog.
Let’s Talk about the Jumper Length and our preferences
Which jumper (sweater) length do you prefer? There are a lot of fashion tips out there trying to teach you things like which body type you have and which length of garment will go with your body type etc. In my humble opinion, I don’t think we can box ourselves to one type. We are a random combination of all features of our ancestors. When I look at me, I see one type in upper body and compeletely different type in my lower side. I also think that we all should be allwod to wear whatever makes us happy.
As knitters, we do follow what a pattern says, generally speaking. One advantage of being makers is that we can modify. We can change things like the length of the garment according to our preferences. If we know what our preferences are, we can create most wonderful and wearable garments, can’t we?
This started with a Question: How long should my jumper be?
Once I taught a jumper class in which students were to make their own customised jumper. Every single student asked me how long the jumper should be. My first answer was “as long as you want” or “as short as you want.” But I met with bewildered faces. I didn’t catch where the bewilderment came from at first. Soon I realised what they wanted was a universal answer to that question; the medium length must be “xx cm” or cropped one should be “yy cm”. Unfortunately, there is no absolute number. The answer is always “it depends”.
Then, how do I find the right length?
I say, “what you like is the right length!” It’s all about preferences. I have once mistakenly believed that one’s preferences come naturally. I realised now that the preferences are learned and we can obtain them through experiences from trial and error. I have been fortunate to have many opportunities to try and found it myself. It was so gradual throughout my childhood, adolescent and beyond, that I thought I knew it all along. But it is not ture.
I was 16. One day, I tried the most trendy outfit (I thought) at that time. I tried Madonna.😆 To this day, I haven’t forgotten my father’s face when he saw me. He looked flabergasted and open his mouth to say something and my mother interupted. She said, “Leave her, she has to experiment at that age, later it would be harder. She will find herself soon.” At that time, I just thought that my mother saved me from my austere father’s scalding. Now I appreciate my mother’s wisdom. I suggest everybody do try and see for yourself. I still do.
Figure 1. 5 Jumper Lengths for Women
There is a quicker way to figure out the preferences you already possess. In my class mentioned above, I asked students to bring their favourite jumper which they feel good and fabulous in it. You could find out your preferences by analysing your favourite jumper; not only the length but neck shape, body shape, width etc. Ask a question. “Why do I like these?” Try them on to see how those details affect you and your look. The answers could tell you a lot of things. The most important thing here is to write down everything including your feelings when you wear it. Then, get all the measurements of the sweater with a tape measure and record!
In this blog, I will provide the common meassurements to help you out. When you buy a jumper from a shop, please keep in mind that each brand follows their own sizing system. The numbers might vary one brand to another. The numbers I provide here are approximate guidelines.
The Lengths in a Nutshell
NOTE 1. See figure 1. All measurements are based on 17cm (6 ¼”) armhole depth and loose fit. These are not absolute measurements. These can vary according to the jumper’s armhole depths etc. That is why I included the approx. measurements from the underarm to the hem.
NOTE 2. Also the body measurements vary from one person to another. We are all different in terms of body proportions. For example, if you have a longer torso than average, you need to add more to the measurement from underarm to the natural waist.
Standard : this is the most common length you can find. It generally hits about 10cm (4”) above your crotch. The measurement from the shoulder point is about 57cm (22 ½ “). From underarm to hem measures around 40cm (16”).
Cropped: the hem should hit around your natural waist line. The measurement from the shoulder point is about 41cm (16 ½”) and from underarm is around 24cm (9 ½”).
High Hip: The hem hits the high hip bone. About 4-6cm longer than cropped one and about 10cm (4’) shorter than the standard. The measurement from the shoulder point is about 47cm (18 ¼’) and from underarm is 30cm (12”).
Hip: The hem hits just below crotch. The measurement from the shoulder point is about 64cm (25 ½’). From underarm is about 47cm (18 ¼”).
Mid Thigh: The hem hits mid thigh. It can be seen as a sweater dress - a short one. The measurement from the shoulder point is about 76cm (30 ¼”) and from underarm is about 59cm (23 ½”).
The Lengths Explained
In the next posts, I will delve into each jumper lengths. Stay tuned.
Note 3. I used “jumper” & “sweater” terms interchangeably in the blog. I live in Ireland. “Jumper”is the term we use here but I know many knitters use “Sweater” so…