Pattern Engineering
Adding 8% to a finished measurement does not undo 8% shrinkage. Reversal divides — and the gap between the two is a whole size on a long garment.
— cm
Cut length that washes down to the finished measurement
Shrinkage is direction-dependent and rarely uniform down a long panel, so verify against washed sealer samples rather than a single swatch. Where the variability spread is wider than the measurement tolerance, no single pattern will hold the spec — stabilise the wash before adjusting the block again.
Washed-to-Raw Shrinkage Reversal Calculator — free, with the formula and a worked example, at Textile School.