Width of a gusset for pattern making
It’s probably something you don’t even think about - the width of the gusset, but get it wrong when pattern making and you’ve got an uncomfortable day ahead of you.
Too wide and it’s going to dig into the side of your legs and bunch up in the middle! Too narrow and well erm, let’s just say when just dressed in your undies, people will be able to lip read you !
The gusset width on this pattern is 5cm (fold over elastic is used to finish)
So what is the ideal measurement for the narrowest part of the gusset?
Before we go further, in case you don’t know, when writing/reading a spec sheet the key measurements for the gusset, is gusset length, front width of the gusset, the back width of the gusset and the narrowest part of the gusset. All these measurements are important as previously stated, too wide or narrow you are running into problems.
The width on the gusset does depend on the style of the brief but generally the width should range from 4.5cm to 6.5cm. If your brief is a thong brief then, this measurement will be smaller, and if you are designing for the plus size market then the measurement will be bigger.
The gusset width on this pattern piece is also 5cm (fold over elastic is used to finish)
A rule of thumb would be bikini style briefs the measurement would be on the smaller range, and boy short style briefs the measurement will hit the bigger range, this is because the legs sit lower on the legs and usually have no elastic so the gusset will be wider to sit in place and not move.
If you are designing a bikini style brief, the more bum shown from the brief the smaller your measurement will be. Whereas if your design is to enclose the whole bum, then again the legs will sit lower on the brief therefore the narrowest measurement of the gusset will be wider than a Brazilian style bikini.
For more information about reading a spec sheet…
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