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Plus-size vintage knitting: patterns, sizing and fit tips

Vintage knitwear looks wonderful on every body. It's the paperwork that lets you down.

Pick up a sweater pattern from the 1940s or 1950s and it's often written for a single 34" bust, or a narrow range like 32–36". Later patterns go further, but plenty still stop around 40–42". None of that means these designs aren't for you. It means you'll be grading the pattern rather than picking a size, and that's very doable.

Why the sizes stop so small

Short size ranges were normal. Many leaflets offered one size or a handful, usually centred on the mid-30s. That was probably partly because every extra size meant more hand calculation and more print.
Bodies have changed a little. The UK's national sizing survey in the early 2000s, the first since 1951, found that average bust and hip measurements had grown by about 1½", and waists by about 6½". Those are averages, and they say nothing about how any one person should look. They do mean a pattern built around a 1950s "average" will be tight across the middle for a lot of people today.
Larger sizes were catered for less often. Bigger sizes did exist, but they were far less common, and the most fashionable designs were usually the ones with the narrowest range.

Bodies don't grow evenly

This is the single most useful thing to know before you start. Each measurement grows at its own rate. Here are standard body figures from two published size charts:

Bust	Armhole depth	Upper arm	Cross back
36"	about 7–7½"	about 11"	about 15–16"
42"	about 7½–8¼"	about 12–13"	about 16½–17"
46"	about 8–8½"	about 13½–14"	about 17½"
50"	about 8½–9"	about 15½–15¾"	about 18"
54"	about 8¾–9½"	about 17"	about 18–18½"

Ranges show where the two charts differ. These are averages for bodies, not garments; your own measurements beat any chart.

From 36" to 54" the bust grows by 18". The armhole deepens by only about 2" and the back widens by about 2–3½". The upper arm, though, grows fast in the larger sizes, by around 6". So if you scale a pattern by bust alone, you get huge shoulders and sleeves that are still tight. Grade each measurement on its own instead (our resizing guide shows the whole method).

Four places to adjust

Bust room, with short rows

With a fuller bust, the front of a sweater needs more length than the back, or the hem rides up at the front. Short rows (also called horizontal bust darts) add that length just where it's needed.

Do you need them? Tie a string under your bust. Measure from the top of your shoulder, over the fullest part of the bust, down to the string. Then measure from the same shoulder point down your back to the string, and subtract. Two well-regarded tutorials agree that if the difference is under about 2", you probably don't need darts. Above that, they help.

How much? Methods differ. One common approach adds a 1" deep dart for a 2–3" difference and a 2" dart above 3". Another adds the full difference as extra length. Start with the gentler one and try it on.

A worked example. You're knitting the front in DK (light worsted) at a gauge (tension) of 22 stitches and 28 rows to 10 cm, which is about 5.59 sts and 7.1 rows per inch. The front is 23" wide at the bust. Your front-to-back difference is 3½", so you'll add a 2" dart.

Rows in the dart: 2" × 7.1 rows = 14.2, so 14 short rows, which is 7 turns each side.
Front width in stitches: 23" × 5.59 = 128.5, so 128 sts.
Centre section to leave alone: measure between your bust points (say 8") and add 2" so the dart stops short of the point: 10" × 5.59 = 55.9, so 56 sts.
Stitches for each dart: (128 − 56) ÷ 2 = 36 sts each side.
Spacing: 36 ÷ 7 = 5.1, so space the turning points 5 stitches apart, leaving the extra stitch at the outer edge.

Work the short rows a little below the bust, so the turning points stop short of the bust point. They sit at the sides, under the arms, and are almost invisible, so they won't spoil a vintage look. If you're working a stitch pattern, swatch them first.

For the full method, including cardigans, stitch patterns and top-down sweaters, see our guide to short-row bust darts.

Width, not length? Add stitches to the front only. Front and back don't have to match: giving the front an extra 1–2" and keeping the back as the pattern intends keeps the shoulders neat.

Length

Many 1940s and 1950s sweaters end at the natural waist with a deep rib. That's part of the look, so keep the welt depth. Do add any extra body length you need (your back-waist length may be ½–1" longer than the pattern's), plus the bust short rows on the front. If you lengthen the body, move the waist shaping to where your waist actually is.

Armhole depth

Don't scale the armhole by bust. Use the table above or, better, measure from the top of your shoulder to about 1" below your underarm. Going from a 34" to a 50" bust might take the armhole from about 7" to about 9". At 7 rows per inch, 7 × 7 = 49 rows becomes 9 × 7 = 63 rows.

Too deep, and the armhole can restrict movement and pull the whole garment up when you raise your arm. Too shallow, and it cuts in. Deeper is fine for loose, drop-shoulder styles. For fitted set-in sleeves, keep it closer to body measurement plus about 1".

Upper arm

Most vintage patterns underserve this one. A 1950s fitted sleeve might have just 1" of ease over a 10½" arm. Measure your own upper arm at its widest, add the original's ease, and recalculate the sleeve increases so you reach that width at the underarm.

Then make sure the sleeve cap still fits the armhole. A wider sleeve top with the same armhole depth needs a flatter cap or more decreases. A flatter cap also tends to be more comfortable on a fuller arm, because it lets you move.

Which styles grade easily

Forgiving shapes

Raglans. The shoulder line is built from diagonal decreases, so it's quite easy to add front-only stitches for the bust and extra sleeve stitches for the arms. Watch the raglan depth: it has to grow with the armhole, so add rows and re-space the raglan decreases rather than just adding stitches.
Drop shoulders and batwings. These usually carry lots of ease, often 6–12" for drop shoulders compared with 1–4" for raglans, so there's room to play. Fit them by the hem and the upper chest, not just the full bust.
Cardigans. Front bands can sit slightly open, and you can add width to each front separately. Button bands are easy to lengthen.
Vests (tank tops, or slipovers) and waistcoats. No sleeves to fight with, and they layer beautifully.

Shapes that need more care

Close-fitting 1940s and 1950s set-in sleeve sweaters. They rely on precise shoulders and small ease. Grade bust, back, armhole and arm separately, and add bust darts if you need them.
Yoked designs with colourwork. The yoke depth and the motif repeat both have to fit, and a yoke can sit too high or too low on a fuller bust. You may need short rows at the back neck as well as extra body length.
Puffed sleeves. Gorgeous, but you'll need to recalculate the gathering so the cap isn't huge on a wider arm.
Very large-scale lace or cables. A repeat may not divide neatly into your new count. Add plain stitches at the sides rather than breaking the panel.

What keeps it vintage

Mostly proportion and detail: the welt depth, the neckline shape, the shoulder line, the sleeve style and the stitch pattern. Keep those exactly and grade the body around them. A neat 1940s sweater at a 52" bust should still be neat, with the same ease and the same pretty shoulders, just built for a different body.

Our own patterns run from US 4–24 / UK 8–28, a 32–52 in bust, and every size is graded measurement by measurement from the original written instructions, then worked out for your yarn and gauge. A knitter chose and checked each one. The short-row method above still works on top of any of them, and if you'd like a hand with it, email support@vintagetomodernknits.com and a real person will help.