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Now we get into the actual activity in preparation for drafting a pattern. This explains how to make the measurements correctly.

Take a ribbon and pass it around your doll’s waist, bust, chest, neck and hips. Fasten ends together. Choose to use either the top or the bottom of each piece of ribbon as a guide for where you are starting or stopping a measurement. You may also want to mark in pencil or pen the center front and back for reference too. This section of the book deals specifically with measuring different types of dolls and all of the explanations are included in one place.

	1) Full Height Head to toe height with or without wig 2) Bust /Chest Around the fullest part of the chest 3) Waist Around waist 4) Hip Measure widest area parallel with the floor
	5) Center Front /Back Length Center neck to waist nape of neck to waist for back  6) Full Length Waist to shoulder at neck over bust (determines shoulder seam) waist to neck over shoulder blade 7) Across Shoulder From shoulder tip to shoulder tip on front and across the back at the fullest point. ONLY RECORD 1/2 of measurement 8) Side Seam Length Bottom of armhole (about chest high) to the waist
	9) Shoulder Length Shoulder tip to neck 10) Shoulder Slope Center of waist to shoulder tip over bust diagonally same on back. Should be almost as long as full length within about 1/4″ 11) Bust Span (lady only) from apex to apex of the bust (where a nipple might be) 12) Bust Depth (lady only) Measure from tip of bust (apex or Measure from tip of bust (apex or nipple) to waist straight down
	13) Side Seam To Floor Side at waist to floor 14) Back Waist To Floor Center back to floor 15) Crotch Depth Depth from waist to crotch level (if the doll does not have an official crotch approximate the right area for it.) 16) Hip Depth center front to hip line
	17) Side Hip Depth side waist to hip on side of doll (over the curve of the hip
	18) Finger Span Around the fingers of both hands to determine which is bigger Finger Span or Wrist 19) Wrist Around the wrist 20) Around Foot Around the circumference of the foot at sole level 21) Upper Arm Around where the porcelain or vinyl meets the cloth of the rest of the body
	22) Sleeve Length From shoulder tip to wrist 23) Armhole Depth On back from center at the neck to chest ribbon
	24)Waist To (A) Knee, (B) Ankle, (C) Floor, (D) Short Train (lady only), (E) Long Train (lady only)Center front Waist to kneeCenter front waist to ankleCenter front waist to floorBack waist to beyond floor for only an extra inch or soBack waist to a larger distance beyond floor for longer train 4-5″
	25) Inseam From Crotch to ankle where pants would end. No seam allowance or hem added 26) Outseam Waist to ankle along side of body

• Waist arc Divide total waist circumference measurement by 4 and then add ease from section chart (waist is 4″ divide by 4 equals 1″ ease for doll is 1/4″ total waist arc is 1 1/4″)
• Hip arc Divide hip circumference measurement by 4 and add ease using section chart
• Arm type Where the porcelain or vinyl meets the rest of the body determines minimum sleeve length
• Leg typeWhere the porcelain or vinyl meets the rest of the body determines minimum skirt or pants length
• Body type Cloth porcelain vinyl etc determines if you need extra ease
• Finger type What type of fingers your doll has- a mitt, some fingers spread or individual fingers. Especially important for sleeve openings if the fingers are spread out then you have to adjust and use the finger spread measurement and not the wrist measurement if you have a porcelain or other fragile type doll and a straight sleeve without elastic or other style of opening at the hem.
• Guidelines are simply lines of undetermined length to provide a place to measure or draw a line to. They are not precise and do not have set lengths, most however, do need to be a squared (90°angle) angle from another line.

Since most dolls are evenly made on both sides, the measurements are taken on the half or in the case of an arc the quarter. The exception is circumference measurements, which are all the way around the body. It is advisable that you mark somehow, either with scotch tape on the body and a pencil mark, ribbon or however you are comfortable, the center front and back along with where your doll’s bust, waist and hip fall. Deciding this before you start measuring will make a big difference in how your patterns will turn out and how accurate they will be. Metric measurements will give you better fit but fractions will work just as well.

Measurement Chart

This is a master list of all the measurements needed for all dolls. Copy the entire list and fill in the ones you need for whatever doll you are going to be currently using. Following will be explanations of how to do these measurements for each type of doll.

Permission granted by author to copy this page.

Key: A= All Dolls L= Lady dolls only C = Child dolls B = Babies M = Man				KEY
1) Full Height				A
2) Bust/Chest				A
3) Waist				A
4) Hip/Hip With Diaper				A, B
5) Center Length		Front	Back	A
6) Full Length		Front	Back	A
7) Across Shoulder		Front	Back	A
8) Side Seam Length				A
9) Shoulder Length				A
10) Shoulder Slope		Front	Back	A
11) Bust Depth				L
12) Side Seam To Floor				L, M, C
13) Back Waist To Floor				L, M, C
14) Crotch Depth				A
15) Hip Depth				A
16) Side Hip Depth				A
17) Finger Span				A
18) Wrist				A
19) Around Foot				A
20) Upper Arm				A
21) Sleeve Length				A
22) Armhole Depth				A
23)Waist To	A) Ankle	B)Knee	C)Floor	L, C
D) Short Train		E) Long Train		L
24) Inseam				A
25) Outseam				A
Waist Arc				A
Chest Arc				A
Hip Arc				A
Arms Type				A
Legs Type				A
Body Type				A
Fingers Type				A