Measurements

Number of measurements
There are many measurements sets that can be used to make a pattern. There isn't a standard set of measurements used by all patternmaking systems. Also some patterns require special measurements which are not usually specified in patternmaking systems. So Valentina must provide support for a large set of measurements in order to support multiple patternmaking systems.

Names of measurements
Measurements have different names between patternmaking systems. For example, 'shoulder' and 'shoulder length' are the same measurement. 'Front full length' and 'front shoulder height' are the same measurement. Some systems use the term 'armhole', others use 'armscye'. The terms 'Nape', 'Cervicale', and 'Neck Back' refer to the same point on the body.

Some names are associated with multiple measurements. 'Armscye Depth' is sometimes the length from the back of the neck to the level of the bottom of the armscye, and sometimes it's the vertical distance from the shoulder tip to the bottom of the armscye.

Valentina created its own measurement names to help users easily find a measurement. These measurement names do not contain idioms so that they can be translated into other languages and retain their meaning.

Meanings of measurements
In some patternmaking systems, some measurements are halved. 'Back shoulder width' sometimes means the distance from shoulder tip to shoulder tip across the back, sometimes it means half this measurement. Some patternmaking systems define 'knee girth' to mean the circumference around the knee with a straight leg, some systems define it as the circumference around the knee with a bent leg. A similar situation occurs with the elbow and arm length measurements, some use a straight arm and some use a bent arm.

Languages
Valentina is being translated into 15+ languages. The translations between languages isn't always straightforward. Measurement names frequently are rooted in idioms and traditions and are not easily translated.

What to do?
To aid the measurement discussion, we've drawn a set of measurements that contains measurements from many different patternmaking systems. Each measurement section has been given a letter and each measurement has a number within that section.

To contribute to the discussion on measurements, post your comments to the forum.

Measurement Image and Download
To download the measurements file, click here: the last diagram. To download a PDF which shows the names for each measurement, click here: Measurements list.