Did that exciting post title get your attention? Well, it’s been consuming my attention for the past several days. As you may know, I am working on a sewing book for Chronicle Books and am actually nearing completion — hurray! Anyway, there’s been some discussion about how/if to include metric conversions. Yes, I apologize for our vastly inferior standard of measurement in the U.S., but we have given it our name and it’s ours. The customary units are quaint and familiar — it would indeed be difficult for me to hand over the yard stick.
Anyway, if you use the metric system and you sew, I need your opinion. If you don’t live in the U.S., Liberia or Myanmar, then I’m talking to you! Do you ever sew from patterns using U.S. measurements? If so, how do you make the conversions? Do you go online, use a tape measure, or actually do math? Have you ever had a pattern come out wrong due to the conversion?
Would you like to see conversions in a U.S. sewing book? Would you mind flipping to the back of the book or do you want the measurements right there on the page? Do you need all the measurements or can you figure some out on your own? My concern is that having too many measurements on the page might make you more likely to misread a number and make a mistake. But of course I don’t want to be a solipsistic American, so let me know what you think.
Pictured above: Linen Measuring Tape Ribbon from Cotton Blue.
Hi, I am from South Africa, but lived in the UK for a while, so got used to using inches. I do have a tape measure with both on it, so if I do sew from US books/patterns (which is quite a lot!) I tend to use the inches side, but I do prefer at least having a conversion chart in the book, otherwise I just go and google it. (which can be a hassle). Being in South Africa though you don’t generally find tape measures with both.
Hi, I’m from Barcelona, Spain, and I almost allways have to use inches when I work with on-line information or patterns, but sometimes I make the conversion. I don’t have much experience, but maybe you could include both measures, one in blue and the other in red, for example, in two opposite colours that make them very different. If I find a pattern with both and I work with cm. I think I would easily ignore the colour I would not be interested in. I hope my oppinion can help you.
I grew up in America with inches and such, but now live in the metric world of Italy. I must say I fought against the metric system when I first arrived here, but have now embraced it as much more logical. I would be fine with either inches or centimeters, but I have heard Italian women in my local fabric stores complaining that they would not by a certain book because the instructions were all in inches. I would recommend a box next to each set of instructions with the measurements in centimeters. Good luck–or “in bocca al lupo” as they say here!
I would much prefer to have at least a conversion table at the back because net access is not always present (or needed) when sitting with a book. Of course, metric measurements with each page would be lovely but thats your call.
I’m in Canada and grew up with inches and feet. And centimetres and millimetres. I still can’t visualize what a metre looks like! Tell me how many feet, and I’ll know what you mean 😉 I use Celcius for air temperature and Fahrenheit for water, and can’t mix the two! Grade five kids tell me they’re so high in metres, and look at me funny when I can’t say how tall my kids are … in metres.
I’d say either list both with one in brackets after the other or have a conversion table at the back.
I think most sewing shops in North America use metres, so perhaps have that as the main one, with inches/feet (in brackets).
What an interesting question 🙂
I sew on a beginner level and live in Denmark where everything is metric.
I have the Sew Everything Workshop book and have tried a couple of the patterns in it. I’ve also knit from quite a few us knitting patterns.
My first thought when I read your post was that it really isn’t much of a problem. I used to use google for conversions, but now use an app on my iphone. On this basic level it really isn’t a problem, and I’ve never had a garment come out wrong for this reason.
But then I thought some more, and realized that there’s more to it than that. When I use Danish patterns or English language metric patterns, I’m able to visualize the process and the resulting garment as I decipher the pattern. I’m not able to do that otherwise.
Therefore I’d prefer there to be metric measurements, but… I definitely think clarity is more important than having them on the same page as the pattern.
On the other hand it would make it more difficult to visualize the process and product it I had to flip back and forth.
So if there is a way to present all of the measurements on the page while maintaining clarity and simplicity, I’d prefer that. If not, I’d like it if the metric measurements were in the back or some other place in the book.
Venlig hilsen
Signe
Another metric person over here! Thank you for thinking of us 🙂
To keep it short and sweet: I love the idea of having the metric and imperial measurements on the main page in different colours. The flipping back thing would be quite tiresome, I think…
reading through other comments, i think i’m also one of those odd canadians who uses a little bit of both systems, and spend a lot of time working with inches and feet (holdover from our old system, or still heavily influenced by our southern neighbours?) anyway, i think some sort of conversion table at the back of the book would be the best to help people on their way.
Hi I’m Laura from México. I don´t know about other countries, but as we are so near to U.S. we are a bit used to the inches, actually most of the stores that sell patchwork supplies, sell yards of fabric instead of meters, and If I purchase a book specialy if it´s not traslated, I´d expect to see the measurments in inches, centimiters will make it confusing because all the grids in my rulers and mats are in inches. But yet again this is my very personal point of view.
I live in South America, and most tape measures come with both measurements. I am befuddled by how many inches in a yard and then the fractions instead of actual numbers, but a conversion chart works for me then.
On the other hand, when there are two measurements in a pattern (in inches and in cm) sometimes one of the numbers is wrong. Yeah, mistakes happen and then I’m left to puzzle out which one is the correct one: the one in inches? The one in Cm? So if both measurements are supposed to be there, then make super extra sure both are correct 🙂
Hi, I’m in the UK and, although fabric is sold in metres here, most people are used to the imperial system too, and rulers and tape measures have both sets of measurements on them. I’ve never used a conversion table, but I just work in whichever system is being used for a pattern. I would imagine though, for people who are used to only one system, it would be more helpful to have both sets of figures there on the page, rather than having to try and work it out.
Hope that helps.
Rachel
I hate the metric system I am use to imperial it all change at hight school and completely did my head in and still does why do the govement have to change monies and sizes etc it was all fine before (GRRRRR) hope you manage to work things out all I know is it’s 2.5cm to the inch
I always think in imperial measurements rather than metric (although I was born way after the metric system was introduced to Britain!). The only problem I have with *just* giving the measurements in yards is the yardage requirement when I go shopping, because British fabric shops only sell in metres nowadays. When I’m working on a project at home I’m perfectly happy to only be given one set of measurements.
Belgium speaking.
Yes, I need conversions! I always use my calculator, time and time again (I can’t seem to remember certain figures). But it would be so much better to just have the cm’s right there.
It would also be great if you could clarify the sizes of the clothes. e.g. ‘3 years’, what European size does that refer to?
E.g. I’ve made some Oliver + s patterns (which are great, by the way), and I’ve noticed that my 2,5-year old – not a very tall girl – is a little bit too big for the 3-year-old-sizes..
I LOVE that question! I live in Germany and YES I have made some things from US patterns. If I have to convert something I actually do the maths … or let my husband do it! 😉 I can figure out how many cm a certain amount of inches is … but if the inches are given in fractions I am lost already. It’s just beyond me. Also I cannot seem to actually remember how to convert things – I have to look them up EVERY time I need them. I find that rather disturbing. So, yes – conversion charts in the back of a book would be brilliant!!! And I actually would even prefer it if the measurements were also given in the metric system on each project! It’s just way easier than to actually have to look it up … and you can see it right there even if you are just flipping through … Maybe you could have the different measures in different blocks so they don’t get as easily confused? (I think however, that it would be more likely that you make a mistake when looking up numbers at the back of the book than to misread something when all the numbers are under each project …
I’m French , have lived in 5 different countries in the world and I LOVE when everything is in metric system. It drives me crazy when I need to spend time ( which I don’t have much with 6 little ones) doing the conversions.
I do like the idea of imperial and metric measurements being side by side, and in different colours. I am one of those freaks who will do the maths by hand, but it will slow down my enthusiasm to sew.
I am an American living in Canada. I use both, depending on the pattern. But I teach school and had to learn to do the conversions in my head. 🙂 We buy fabric in metres, but that is more than yard so I never have to worry about running short. In sewing books, I would say you need a conversion chart, just for convenience.
I am Dutch and please, please add measurements in metric system on the right page and without having us to flip through the book. To be honest, your system is very confusing to me and having to turn pages every time a yard or an inch or something like that comes up, would be quite annoying. Thanks for asking!
Hi,
I live in New Zealand where we use the metric system. Yes I’ve used US patterns. I’d call myself a beginner sewer and trying to swap from one system of measurement to another does sometimes do my head in. I agree that having both sets of measurements on the page everywhere a measurement is given could make it easy to read the wrong measurement (unless they were in different colours or places on the page). However, giving the finished project size in both measurements would be great. Apart from that, a conversion table would be fine. Personally, I just make sure I keep metric and imperial rulers in my sewing kit and learnt how to do conversions. Tape measures usually have both sets of measurement on them anyway. It’s not that painful or big a deal. I think it’s just part of the fun of making things that come from different parts of the world.
Hi there, I’m from Canada and I flip between imperial and metric. I buy fabric in metres and my tools all list things in inches, which is handy when using patterns. However, a conversations chart is always handy.
I actually like the metric system in conjunction with the imperial system. In cooking, I often use both and feel the twinge of a challenge when I get to use metric. Although, I prefer to weigh, which definitely doesn’t work with sewing. Do what suits your esthetic. We are global and should be able to adjust.
I live in New Zealand, so for me imperial measurements are a little foreign. I use tape measures with metric on one side and imperial on the other, and on sewing patterns I use the french instructions to get the metric fabric requirements. I find inches and yards easy to deal with, the other measurements I find harder, like volume measurements, and feet, and for those I use a converter on the internet
Hi I’m from New Zealand and love your website. Am used to using the metric system but lots of people (especially from older generation) still work in inches etc and all tape measures have both. Would be useful to have a conversions though. I convert measurements on my cellphone or on the internet.
it doesn’t really matter to me which measurement comes in a book, I can always kinda convert it using my tape measure or I just use the metric/imperial units :), I have both of them
I live in Canada — I use both systems interchangeably . I’m 45 though and learned the Imperial system before they switched!… my 22 year old daughter (who sews and knits) who has been completely schooled in Metric said that inches are fine — she says that a conversion chart at the back is better — too many numbers in the instructions just give you too many places to read it incorrectly. i’m sure that if they were different colours that would be easier though….
Another New Zealander – would like to see conversions on the patterns. At the very least, it would be great to have meterage of fabric and final size, with a conversion table included elsewhere.
Hi! Thanks for asking us metric people!
I live in Sweden. Once I have sewn in inches (a prom dress. Clever first project?)and maybe it would happend more often if all measurements were written in both systems? I like the idea of using different colours or brackets.
I have a tape measure wich shows both systems, they are not easy to find so I treasure it!
/Anna in Sweden
I’m an American sewist and I actually prefer to use metric when at all possible, both for sewing and for cooking! And, I like to cook by weight (in grams). So, you know I’m a little loony. Metric just makes so much sense. It’s easy. Thanks!
Hi!
I’m Canadian and living in Sweden. I too love when both the metric and imperial units are available, because as one poster mentioned, when the inches have fractions beside them, I am completely thrown off!!! Thank you!!
I work in metric (live in the UK). If a book had both in different colours I would certainly go with metric, but if it only had imperial I wouldn’t convert it I would just use my tape measure which has both on, but I do really have to concentrate on the fractions lol!!
In the UK, we’re pretty flexible. Although we’re nominally metric, tapes and measures have both printed on them. Also people will usually tell you their measurements in inches, and this is therefore pretty much my preferred unit to work in. Besides, a 32″ waist sounds more acceptable than whatever the dreadful conclusion in centimetres is!
Hi – another New Zealander. I use a double-sided tape measure, and even though I can work in both metric and imperial, I tend towards the imperial when sewing, just because so many patterns are from the US and are in that, including feet for the sewing machine. However, I do find it difficult when a pattern will specify someting like; for example, 1/4 yard fabric needed, instead of the measurements.
Hi, I’m from Sweden and usually use the metric system, but if I work with a pattern from the US that uses imperial units I’ll just use my inches-tape measure and ruler.
So much easier than converting.
I’ll just convert the amount of fabric I need to centimeters or meters so the people at the fabric store easily can follow how much fabric I require.
Conversions an go at the end of the book cause I hardly ever use them anyway. 🙂
An Australian sewer here – I would love, love LOVE metric in brackets after the imperial measurements.
I think the key thing to ask is: how would you like to read a pattern in metric? Measurements at the back or on the same page?
Thanks for asking – we appreciate it!
I usually do my length conversions using this online converter: http://www.worldwidemetric.com/measurements.html
Personally, I prefer to have both measurements listed next to one another, with brackets or something, and not have to go to the back page to do a conversion, then back again to the explanation and so forth.
I’ve seen various pattern sleeves from different companies, which listed both measurements, but in different columns. Like: left side imperial, right side metric. Burda patterns also hold the necessary fabric length based on two different fabric widths, 110cm wide (Europe) and 150 cm wide (US) (see below)
Interesting to know (and possibly it’s been mentioned in another post), is that the width of fabrics is quite different when we’re talking the typical quilt cotton types. Where the standard bolt in Europe would hold fabric of 150cm wide, a US bolt is only 110cm wide. So it’s not so much the length of the fabric that is important when you order fabric (after all, a yard is only a tiny bt shorter than a meter), but you also have to take the difference in width into account.
(Knits and some other fabrics often have yet other widths).
Another good-to-know is that European patterns usually do *not* include seam allowances! So if I use an American pattern, I must remember not to add another 1/2 inch or 1.5 cm when I draw the pattern on the fabric, and vice versa.
Good luck with your book!
I’m Australian and use metric. I tend to do patchworking in inches, as the patterns for this seem traditionally in inches, as is my quilting ruler, but when I sew clothing and other items I use metric. Confusing? I would definitely like the metric values in brackets for anything other than patchwork. I think having the measurements in different colours is a great idea.
Thanks, good luck with all that maths.
I sew clothes in metric but still use feet & inches for curtains, my biggest problem with patterns particularly american is the fabric needed. I know of only one store in the UK that stills gives the option to buy fabric in yards, this addition to patterns would make life so much easier.
Love the site so much food for my crafty brain.
I’m from Ireland and I use both systems as lots of patterns only come in inches. I don’t bother converting to cms as I have a tape measure with cms & inches and have no problem using both. I think if you are going to include metric it should include all the measurements in cms rather than converter tables or measurements on a different page. That would just be tiresome.
As a brit and a knitter, i find i’m more comfortable using inches than cm. (My sister – a superb sewer, feels the same. 🙂 infact despite being in my early thirties, (and therefore having used on metric through school) i now much prefere pounds, and inches, to kilograms and centimeters.
for what it’s worth. 🙂
I´m from Argentina, so I use the metric system. When I get patterns in inches before I start i go to the web and transfor all the measurements.
I would love a book with the equivalent cm in the same section.
Many times I end up buying european that directly use cm. Sewing is a relax time for me, including Maths is not a good convination.
I teach science here in the US. Metric units and conversions are the HARDEST concept to get across to students. We just don’t use them enough. Personally, I would LOVE to see both.
I always apreceate it a lot, when the centimeters are always mentioned. Please do! I am from Holland and buy a lot of craft bookt through Amazon.
I love in Mexico and completely adore the logic and familiarity of the metric system, but for some reason, I sew with the imperial system. It may be that I just adore my beloved see-through ruler that is is imperial, but I’m pretty sure it’s about the comfort of fractions (so much easier to think of one eighth than .125)… I will usually just work with the units given….yet if I’m using a book or a pattern in metric, I’ll just grab my other set of rulers and go for it. Or sometimes when drafting my own patters I combine the two. I can go either way.
Yet, in fashion school I noticed that most of my classmates had trouble with imperial because of the fractions( but I would blame that on substandard education and laziness, not the system itself). They would go out of their way to convert the measurements to metric just to understand them, even though we generally worked with imperial measurements and rulers. Most people who have not grown up using the system have a ton of trouble with it.
As for the conversion, I tend to just make them mentally….I don’t find 2.5 cms to the inch to be complicated math. Or maybe you could include a table at the beginning showing the basic conversions, to the fractions of one (say, 3/8″ = .95 cms, 7/8 = 2.22 cms) and let everyone do the math.
Here in Germany we have only the metric system, but I have no problems with patterns that use other measures. I just do the math. Sometimes I also use the inches/yards system because most of my books and patterns are American, but I have troubles with measures like 7/8″ or the likes. So, both measures in your book would be great.
Hello from Canada! I personally do not have a problem working in either metric or imperial. Here, when I buy a measuring tape it has one set of meaurements on one side and another on the other. When purchasing see through quilting rulers they only come with inches. As an online shopper I buy most of my fabric in yards and at home I buy in meters. I really don’t see this as a big issue. I think a brief chart in the back of your book would be sufficient. Converting units would not deter me from buying a fabulous book. For me its all in the photos! and not about the measuring 🙂
Wishing you HUGE success with the new book,
Carolyn
Wow can’t belive how wide is the range of your readers, I am proud to be the Israeli one!!!!! I am used to the metric system but i live in the UK now…..so it would be great to have both side by side…..wow now i will realy wait for the book. good luck!!!!
Honestly, I generally use whatever measurements the pattern uses. I have a yardstick and a metre stick. The only time it would really be useful to have conversion, is when you give yardages of fabric for a project, because all the fabric stores measure and sell material in metric units. It would be nice to be able to buy only the material that I need and I don’t always remember to do the conversion before I go. But it would not be a deal breaker when it came to buying the book.
I”m a New Zealander and was about 7 or 8 when we changed to the metric system. I use both systems depending on what i’m doing but for sewing,quilting and the like i still use the imperial system. A lot of books etc give instructions in both which i like, so long as you remember to use one or the other and not switch between the two. Am looking forward to the publication of your book.
I buy fabric by the metre but take up hems by the inch! I also use 5/8 inch seam allowances. I am an Australian and brought up using metric measurements. I’d like to see both sets of measures in your book. Good luck and I hope to see your book on sale here in the near future!