SIZING UP PATTERN

Most costume patterns only go to a pattern-size 20, which is smaller than a retail-size 20 by a goodish bit. I usually figure about two full sizes different, so if you buy up to a 16 or so in ready-to-wear, you're probably okay with, say, the ever-popular Simplicity 9198. If you take larger than that, you'll have to do some additional work.

First of all, look in the back of the pattern catalogue, and figure your pattern-size by your measurements, not the size number. Be honest about your measurements.

While there is some variation between patterns in the amount of ease (how much bigger the dress is than you are - and it has to be bigger if you're planning on moving at all... 8-). It's best not to rely on having any extra. As my mother told me years ago: "You can always cut it off, but there's no way to put it back on." (Well, there is, but it's a lot harder, and tends to show; let's not go there.)

Look at the dress you want to reproduce, and define its basic characteristics. Does it have princess seams? Is it pull-over or zipped (pullover will have to fit more loosely)? Is the skirt straight or flared? Things like necklines, waist seams, collars, drapey things, and long, flowing sleeves can be worked; look for the 'silhouette', the underlying construction of the thing, not the details.

You will not find every feature you're interested in in any one pattern. You will have to adjust, adapt, combine, and generally mess with your patterns. You are not in any way unique; none of the smaller patterns is quite right, either.

Now look in the 'larger sizes' section of the catalogue. There won't be a lot of patterns in there, but there are sufficient for our purposes. Find a pattern that has the features you decided were important.

Simplicity has a princess-seamed evening/wedding dress, 7163, which is what I'm using. It's a little tricky, because the upper bodice is seamed into the lower, princess part, but I pinned the lower part and the solid yokes together, held it up to me, had my mom draw an new, rounded neckline (which I then smoothed out and adjusted), removing the yoke seams.

Simplicity 9516 looks to have possibilities; it has an empire (raised) waist and both a four-gore and six-gore skirt. Every one of the major pattern companies has at least one princess-seamed evening top and skirt pattern (e.g. Simplicity 5973, McCall's 3114, Butterick 6413); Simplicity has several. If you stick the top and skirt together at the waist, you should have a good place to start for many elf costumes.

The Simplicity jumper pattern is 9295; it has darts, but I can see it as a place to begin for Eowyn's brown or Arwen's Blood Red - Blue/Grey/Requiem - Lime Green overdresses. (McCalls has a princess jumper, I think, but I couldn't find it quickly on-line.) I think I could make approximately the male?/female? elf extra silver robe out of Sim 7168, by lengthening everything, spitting the collared dress up the front, trimming back the curve on the lower part of the opening, and putting the skirt or the uncollared dress under it.

Now, for your details, start with the suggestions on ACS and here; they work the same for us as for the smaller ladies. Adapt the pattern you have (e.g., Sim 7163 has 'flutter' sleeves which could be lengthened), or you can also get, say, Sim 9198 and scale the collar or sleeve pieces up to match your size. ('Grading', or scaling a pattern to a different size, isn't nearly as difficult as it sounds; once you know the general shape of a particular detail, you just make it the same shape only larger. I once drafted a costume for myself - pattern-size 26 - by looking at a "Barbie doll" pattern, believe it or not...