Overweight children, plus size children and obese children will usually have much larger chests than average size children. In addition, they will usually have large upper arms that make altering store bought patterns very difficult. This tutorial will address both areas needing to be altered.
FULL CHEST
With a large full chest, wrinkles will show on the center part of the bodice, as shown. To correct, cut across the center pattern front, open as much as necessary and redraw the pattern.
HEAVY ARMS
For heavy arms cut the sleeve pattern and spread the two sleeve pieces as shown in the illustration. Redraw the sleeve cap. By making this correction you will be enlarging the sleeve cap, so it will be necessary to enlarge the armholes. Lower the front and back armhole line each 1/2 of the total amount required.
For more in depth information about altering patterns for overweight children, plus size children and obese children, check out our book “Altering Store Bought Patterns For Hard To Fit Children”. This book contains 70 pages and covers the alteration process for every garment you’d want to make for boys and girls, including large abdomens, large hips and derriere, larger than normal chest, adjusting the crotch length and much more. Each alteration process has step by step instructions and diagrams.
If you’d like to try your hand at making your own patterns for overweight children, plus size children and obese children, we have classes available for boys and girls! Simply take their measurements and follow our step by step instructions to make dozens and dozens of styles.