How do I measure the upper body of my sweater? I get asked this question by knitters all the time. So I’m offering a quick look at how exactly I measure the upper body of a top-down sweater.
In most top-down sweater or tee patterns, there is a spot where the designer will tell you how far down to knit before you put the sleeve stitches on hold for later and continue down just the body stitches. In my patterns, I generally say something like “Continue to work straight with no further increases until upper body measures about 9 (9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5, 12, 12.5)” [23 (24, 25.5, 26.5, 28, 29, 30.5, 32) cm] in length. Then go to Separate Body and Sleeves below.”
I use three main ways to measure the upper body of my knit garments.
If I’m making the sweater for myself, it works best to actually put the sweater on and measure from the center top of my shoulder in a straight line down my body to the the underarm. In this case, I’m making the Size L from the example above and knit about 10.5 inches before casting on the underarm stitches and continuing down the body. (If I’m not using my other hand to hold a camera, it is very easy to pull the sweater and tape measure just right for this measurement.)
If I’m making the piece for someone else, I lay it flat on a table and arrange it as close as possible to how it would sit on a body to measure from the center top of the sleeve shoulder in a straight line down the body to the underarm. This is the exact same sweater from above and you can see in the photo that measuring your garment flat can be a bit tricky because the yarn doesn’t have any of its normal drape. (Do you see that dropped stitch? I did not notice it until I was looking at the pictures. I’m happy to report that I was able to secure it and blend it into the other stitches without needing to rip back!)
Or I put the garment on Mona (my dress form) to measure from the center top of her shoulder down the body to the underarm. I know a lot of knitter’s do not have a Mona. She’s a great help but she is not at all necessary to measure the upper body of a sweater. In fact, you can see here that measuring a Size L sweater on a Size S Mona can also be tricky. I know that on my Size L body the upper body of this sweater measures about 10.5″ as intended. But here on Mona the length looks to be measuring closer to somewhere between 10.75″ and 11″. This is partly because her Size S shoulders and torso allow the underarm to drape down a bit further than it does on my Size L shoulders and torso but also because the tape measure slipped off the exact center of her shoulder while I used my hand to take the picture.
Of these three easy ways to measure the upper body of a sweater, my favorite by far is to try it on the body that is meant to wear it. But the others work almost as well, as long as you take into account the slight differences that laying flat or hanging from a different-size body can cause.
In my patterns, I always include a note that says something like this, “Here is the perfect spot to take advantage of how easy it is to try on a top-down garment for a custom fit and adjust your armhole depth as needed. Keep in mind that if you change your length here, you may want to adjust the underarm-to-bind-off length at the bottom of the garment to achieve your desired final length.” And another note that says something like this, “My favorite thing about top-down garments is you can try them on as you knit to get the right fit for you. No two bodies are exactly alike, so please try on the piece as you work to get the fit just how you want for your body.” Both of these notes are meant to encourage knitters to try on the garment as they work to get the best fit possible.
I hope this quick look helped. Take care and happy knitting!
