threadoffaith

This was a difficult lesson, and very hard to figure out.

Over a period of about two years, I had made a number of skirts and pants, where I measured my waist, added allowance for seams and overlap fasteners, but when completed were two tight, and did not fit.

I finally realised, it was not a math mistake. I was using a cloth tape for my waist measurement, and a yardstick to measure for cutting. The cloth tape had stretched over the years by almost two inches. I discovered this when I measured it against the yardstick.

After tossing all of my old cloth-only measuring tapes, I now buy only plastic-covered cloth tapes that are sturdy enough not to stretch.