Beginner’s help to “Widen” a pattern..!

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

Hi..!! My name is Serena; I’m having a problem with trying to figure out how to make a pattern from a size 42 to a size 44;
I’ve recently purchased a McCall’s Pattern # 7637…Men’s Vests & Suits; The pattern was made a long time ago, as the instruction paper inside has yellowed quite a bit, and tears/splits easily; I thought it was a variety of sizes when I purchased the pattern, but it only comes in a size 42; It has all the sizes written on the back of the envelope, but the actual envelope only comes in one size, so it must be the way they’d printed the patterns long ago;…I’ve already searched for the same pattern in a size 44, but it’s no longer available;
I’ve been scouring the internet and you tube to try to find a relatively easy/simple way to “enlarge” a pattern; I already understand how making a pattern shorter or longer works, as all tissue paper patterns already have those markings on the tissue, so those types of alterations have already been taken into account by the manufacturer;
What would be a relatively easy way to actually “widen, or add 2 inches to make a size 42 into a 44…”? I’ve thought of cutting the tissue pattern in half lengthwise, (from top to bottom), and inserting 2 inches of white computer paper, and then taping that in and using that,
Or…pin the pattern onto my fabric, make little “measurement dots” 2 inches around the pattern, then draw the lines and curves in (connect the dots), and then cut the fabric around my new lines and create a larger vest….? I”m just trying to think of an easy, simple way, as I do not have a “Fitting Shell”, and I don’t know where to buy one; Any advice for “Dummies like Me” would be a Big Help..!!
Many Thanks in Advance,,!

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

What you want to do is called pattern grading. We don’t have a tutorial on this yet but you can find an article about it here: http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4368/making-sense-of-pattern-grading/page/all Doing something like a men’s vest should be easier than their examples so you might be able to just add your inches like you suggest. If you do this, I do encourage that you buy some cheap fabric, like muslin and baste your pieces together, so you can test the fit and see if you need to make any adjustments to your pattern. Good luck! 🙂

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