How to Choose the Right Grading Chart

Choosing the right grading chart is one of the first — and most consequential — decisions you will make when sizing a pattern line. The chart determines every increment your patterns will use, from bust to hem length. Pick the wrong one, and every size in your range carries a systematic fit error that no amount of trueing can fix.

This guide walks through the 14 Aldrich size chart systems available in Pattern Grader's calculator, explains what each one is designed for, and gives you a practical decision framework for choosing.

Why the Chart Choice Matters

A grading chart is not just a table of numbers. It encodes assumptions about body shape, target market, and sizing philosophy. The High-Street chart assumes a younger, more athletic figure and uses uniform 4 cm bust increments. The Women's Standard chart targets a more mature figure and switches from 4 cm to 6 cm increments at size 18 — an important breakpoint that reflects how body proportions change at larger sizes.

If you design for a young, athletic market but use the Standard chart, your larger sizes will have too much ease in the upper body relative to the hips. If you use the High-Street chart for a mature market, your larger sizes will be systematically too tight through the torso.

The 14 Aldrich Charts at a Glance

All charts are from Winifred Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting textbook series, 6th Edition. They divide into three categories.

Womenswear (3 charts)

High-Street Fashion — Sizes 6–16, uniform 4 cm bust increment. Designed for the young women's market with a youthful, athletic target figure. The simplest chart to grade because every increment is constant. Ideal for indie designers selling to a 20s–30s demographic.

Women's Standard — Sizes 6–24, dual increment system (4 cm for sizes 6–18, 6 cm for sizes 18–24). BS EN 13402-3 compliant. Covers a wider size range with breakpoint adjustments for the mature figure. The most versatile womenswear chart and a strong default choice if you want a broad size range.

XS–XXL Letter Sizing — Letter sizes from XS to XXL. Used when your brand uses letter sizing rather than numeric sizes. Maps to the same anthropometric data but labeled differently. Common in activewear, casualwear, and online retail.

Menswear (5 charts)

Young Athletic 4 cm — Young men's build with 4 cm chest increments. Similar philosophy to the women's High-Street chart.

Mature 4 cm — Mature men's build with 4 cm chest increments. More ease through the torso compared to the athletic chart.

Young Athletic 5 cm — Young men's build with 5 cm chest increments for broader size jumps.

S-M-L-XL — Letter-sized menswear chart. The menswear equivalent of the women's XS–XXL.

Shirts — Specialized chart for men's dress and casual shirts, with collar-size-based grading. Uses different measurement priorities than full-body charts.

Childrenswear (6 charts)

Birth to 2 Years — Infant sizing. Growth-based increments that are proportionally much larger than adult charts.

Girls' Standard — Standard girls' sizing for ages approximately 3–12.

Boys' Standard — Standard boys' sizing for the same age range.

Girls' Plus — Extended sizing for girls above standard measurements.

Girls' Developing — Transitional chart for pre-teen girls with developing bust measurements.

Boys' Plus — Extended sizing for boys above standard measurements.

Decision Framework: How to Choose

Follow this decision tree to narrow your choice:

Step 1: Identify Your Category

Are you designing womenswear, menswear, or childrenswear? This immediately narrows you to 3, 5, or 6 charts respectively.

Step 2: Define Your Target Customer

For womenswear:

• Young/athletic demographic (18–35) → Start with High-Street
• Broad demographic or inclusive sizing → Start with Women's Standard
• Letter sizing brand → Consider XS–XXL

For menswear:

• Athletic or slim-fit aesthetic → Young Athletic 4 cm or 5 cm
• Classic/relaxed fit → Mature 4 cm
• Casual/activewear → S-M-L-XL
• Shirts specifically → Shirts

Step 3: Decide Your Size Range

This is critical. The High-Street chart only goes to size 16. If you need sizes beyond 16, you must use the Women's Standard chart or supplement the High-Street data with custom increments in Advanced mode.

Step 4: Consider Breakpoints

If your size range crosses a breakpoint (e.g., size 18 in Women's Standard), the increment per size changes. This is correct and intentional — body proportions shift at larger sizes. The grading calculator handles breakpoints automatically, but you should understand why your increment column shows different values at different sizes.

For a deeper understanding of how grading works and what these increments mean, see What Is Pattern Grading?.

Common Scenarios

"I sell PDF patterns for indie sewists, sizes 0–20." Use Women's Standard. It covers sizes 6–24 with proper breakpoint handling. The uniform-increment High-Street chart does not extend far enough.

"I design activewear for women in their 20s, sizes XS–XL." XS–XXL if you use letter sizing, or High-Street mapped to letters. Activewear typically uses the athletic figure assumptions.

"I make men's dress shirts." The Shirts chart is specifically designed for this. It grades by collar size with appropriate body measurements.

"I need children's sizes for both boys and girls." Use Girls' Standard and Boys' Standard separately. Children's sizing diverges significantly between genders, especially from age 8 onward.

Using the Calculator

Once you have chosen your chart, open the Pattern Grader calculator, select your chart and base size, and set your desired size range. The calculator displays every measurement increment instantly — no textbook lookup required.

If the standard charts do not quite match your needs, switch to Custom mode to adjust individual increments while keeping the rest of the chart as your starting point. For a hands-on walkthrough, see Pattern Grading for Beginners.

Understanding ease is also essential — the chart gives you body measurements, but you will need to add design ease on top of those graded values for your final garment measurements.

Summary

The right chart depends on three factors: your garment category, your target customer's body type, and the size range you need. Aldrich's 14 charts cover virtually every standard market segment. Start with the chart that matches your customer, verify with the calculator, and adjust in Custom mode if needed.

FAQ

Can I mix measurements from different charts? No. Each chart is an internally consistent system. Mixing bust from one chart with hips from another creates sizing inconsistencies. If you need custom values, start from one chart and modify specific measurements in Custom mode.

What if my size range needs more sizes than the chart provides? Use Advanced mode to extrapolate beyond the chart range. Be aware that extrapolated increments assume the same growth rate, which may not hold at extreme sizes. Always fit-test extrapolated sizes.

Do I need different charts for knit vs. woven fabrics? The charts provide body measurements, not garment measurements. You adjust for knit vs. woven by changing your ease values — negative ease for stretch knits, positive ease for wovens — rather than switching charts.