Enlarging or Reducing a Pattern

L.A.C.E over at My Glass House had a great question that I wanted to answer here for everyone. She's working her way through the Bunny Workshop and she's thinking of making a really big version of the bunny next. She asked if I had ever made a really big Shiny Happy Bunny.

No, I haven't. But I have enlarged and reduced other patterns and there IS a trick to it. It's a good question and at some point I'll do a whole video on it - but here's the text answer for now.

The first thing you need to do is mark off the seam allowance. When you enlarge the rest of the pattern you do not want to also enlarge the seam allowance. So - for my bunny and bear patterns the seam allowance is 1/4 inch. Use a ruler or a seam gauge and measure in 1/4 inch all the way around all the pattern pieces except the bunny hands and feet. The bunny hands and feet are cut out of felt, so there is only seam allowance added where the pieces join to the body. Draw in all those seam allowance lines. Basically, what you're doing is drawing the stitching lines in.

Now you can enlarge or reduce to your heart's content. Make a ginormous bunny or a teeny tiny bear. You can either scan your marked-up pieces into your computer and enlarge and reduce in your favorite photo editing software, or you can take it to a copy shop and do it on a photocopy machine. Enlarge or reduce all the pieces by the same percent.

Next you need to add the seam allowance back on to your pattern pieces. Go all the way around the edge of each piece with a ruler or hem gauge making little marks at 1/4 inch, then connect all those little dots. Cut out your pattern pieces and sew!

One thing to be aware of - you may need to tweak the pattern a bit after enlarging or reducing. Proportions that seem just fine in the original model can look weirdly off  - especially after enlarging. And those weird proportions can look even weirder after stuffing. For really simple blobby shapes like my bunny and bear you should be fine. But you might run into problems with something like a ragdoll where the skinniness of the neck, or example, might be thrown off when you scale up or down. So if you're working with a more complicated pattern - especially one with skinny parts and wide parts - you might want to make a sample up in a muslin (or other cheap fabric) first so you can check for problems. Draw on any details instead of stitching them, and be sure to stuff it too! Stuffing changes all the proportions.

You don't want to do what I did here. I know better, but I did it anyway. I designed a pirate doll. I did all the time-consuming applique and handstitching on his face and his outfit. It was looking good the whole way - until I stuffed him. Suddenly his head looked really tall and skinny (it looked even worse in person) and he was just. . . weird. Grrr!!! When in doubt, always make a muslin.

Hope that answers your question! Have fun!

Best,
Wendi