Reply To: Measure twice, cut once

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

hi there! I looked at the back of the pattern envelope and it does say that a 45″ chest would put you between a L and an XL. You do go by body measurements and not by garment measurements when choosing a size. The garment measurements is the finished size with the added ease. You can watch my tutorial on design and functional ease, but essentially what it means is that the pattern creator will add to the body measurement in the creation of the pattern so that you’ll be able to raise your arms and move comfortably in your garment. When it comes to garments made with woven fabrics, there is always going to be ease added because if you make the garment skin tight it won’t be comfortable.
Now when you look at your pieces, are you just looking at the pattern pieces and going “whoa! this looks huge!” or have you already started putting it together? If it’s the former, I wouldn’t stress out too much. Not only is there ease, but there’s also seam allowance and if there’s a dart then there’s even more added inches. Also, I’ve done the same thing and my garment ended up fitting. You’re looking at your pieces flat and that will always make them look bigger because they’re not wrapping around your body. If you’re unsure, I would just make a muslin, which means using cheap fabric and basting pieces together and baste any darts. You don’t need to do all the finishing but just enough to try it on and then you can get a real idea if you need to go down a size. Good luck!