If you sew from shop bought patterns for your 6yo,

[lucysmam]

what size do you sew?

Sounds a daft one maybe but I'm just tracing off a 3-4 Elsa pattern to make up in some scraps to try on a friends' 6yo dd.

According to the envelope there'll be plenty of room in there for her. Logically I know from measuring her that it should fit but my brain does not agree with me

Is the friend tiny? My DD is 6 and she's in age 7-8 and sometimes 8-9 as she's tall.

She must be!

22inch bust and waist, 23 1/2 inch hips.

Pattern for 3-4 says it measures 26 inches at bust and 35 1/2 hips.

Which, if it's right, will swamp her.

I might measure again to double check & root out the ones I took for the Anna dress I made her.

I always go by measurements and not age, that way you get a great fit.

Going by age would make it even bigger!

I collared her mum on the way into school for my littlest & compared her dd with my dd - there isn't much difference so maybe she is teeny.

I'll throw it together from some old bedding tomorrow and see what it's like.

Is that the final measurements or the child's measurements?
There will be ease in the garment, quite a lot for an Elsa costume I suspect but if you are quoting finished size with ease, it is possible it will be too tight for the six year old who is that size or a bit smaller if that makes sense?
In shops my child(6) is 7-8, with patterns it varies, with Burda I can often get away with a size below

Top are the child's measurements, second lot are finished garment measurements from the pattern envelope for the size 3-4.

I'm going to try the 7-8 & then I can always reduce down from there if need be.

I think I was having an off day yesterday, nothing was going right . I tried working out how much fabric to buy using the envelope & got myself in a pickle with that too. Sat down and did it no problem this morning

I made my 7 year old trousers. I used the age 5 pattern and they were still way too long. She is small but not hugely so....

I generally find sizing with sewing patterns (assuming you follow the instructions regarding how much seam to sew etc) are more accurate & reliable than clothes bought from a shop!

I would go by the measurements printed on the pattern packet & choose the size which best fits the child