The Best 3 French Curve Rulers for Plus-Size Sewing
Dritz rulers have easy-to-read markings and pictures showing how to use them in your sewing. Image copyright: Dritz.
What are they?
French Curves are clear plastic rulers that are used in fashion design and dressmaking to draw smooth and accurate curved lines on patterns. As hobby sewists, we use them when tracing patterns to ensure accuracy and precision in our copying, and for making fitting adjustments. They come in handy when self-drafting our own patterns too. At their most basic, French Curve templates used in dressmaking and tailoring comprise a set of different shapes that traditionally correspond to parts of the body. The tight curve at the top is considered to align with the neck and armscye (armhole) and the long gentle curve is said to match your waist and hip. (In fact there is a cousin to the French Curve called a hip curve ruler that is intended just for this area.)
French Curve rulers for sewing are not to be confused with French Curve Sets (or Burmester Curve Sets), which are sets of multiple different templates that look like filigree. Those are used in engineering and architecture to draw shapes that cannot be drawn using a compass. You might give them a try for drawing design elements like ruffles and flounces, but they are not intended for use when drafting the functional elements of a pattern like the crotch curve, armscye or back neck.
What are they for?
French curves have multiple uses for home sewists and once you get the hang of using one, you'll wonder how you got by for so long without it. Because the curve gradually changes along the length of the design ruler, they can be used for almost any type of curve you will encounter in a sewing pattern. Use them to trace off patterns that you don't want to cut into. Use them to grade between sizes on a pattern. Use them to make fitting adjustments, to draw in hems, to lower the rise of pants or a skirt. Because no part of the human body is a straight line, most patterns have subtle curves everywhere.
How are they used?
The most common way to use a French Curve is to pivot and slide. It's very rare that the curve you're trying to draw will match the curve of the ruler, so the technique is to match, draw and slide, match draw and slide until you've worked your way along the whole curve. If you're drafting and there is no curve to follow, use the appropriate part of the curve as your starting point for drawing in a whole new curve. Just remember that it might need tweaking to fit your unique body later.
Which one should I buy?
I'm aware of three main styles of French Curve for sewing. Each have their advantages and their drawbacks, so I'll talk about all three. They all come in both metric and imperial measurements, but usually one or the other, so decide which measurement system you want to work in and commit to that. Personally, despite being in the UK I prefer to work in inches, so all of my tools are in inches and feet.
Multipurpose 4 in 1 Curve Ruler
Image copyright: Sew Easy
The multipurpose 4 in 1 ruler is a great all-rounder. It's smaller than the other two styles, but is made from thicker plastic and will withstand more rough handling. It's a good choice if space is limited and if you mostly want a ruler for tracing patterns. It has both metric and imperial on the same tool, so it's great if you use both. It has slots cut into it for placing buttonholes, and instructions in French and English detailing which sections of the curve correspond to which parts of the body. I got on extremely well with mine for many years. I eventually replaced it with a classic French Curve ruler when I moved to a bigger sewing space and started working with my own sloper. I found that the seam allowance guides at the tightest part of the curve were not accurate enough for my needs.
PatternMaster
This design ruler from HAND is a good alternative to the original PatternMaster. Image copyright: Well Made Tools.
The original PatternMaster comes from Morplan and was designed by Dr Martin Shoben. There are Pro, Economy and Junior versions. The Junior PatternMaster is a miniature version with 1/4 and 1/5 scales for sketching design diagrams. The Pro and Economy versions are full-sized and vary only in materials. The Pro is thicker plastic. The Economy is made from flexible 1.5mm plastic. The design includes a tight comma-shaped inner cutout and a smoother outer curve. It's marked with two seam allowances on every edge to make adding seam allowances to pattern pieces quick and accurate.
British brand HAND sells a design ruler that is almost indistinguishable from the original PatternMaster and is readily-available on Amazon.
Classic French Curve Ruler
The Classic French Curve from Sew Easy is available in Imperial and metric versions and is widely available and inexpensive. Image copyright: Sew Easy.
The Classic French Curve from Sew Easy is widely available and inexpensive. It's my top pick because I find it very easy and intuitive to use. It's about the same size as the PatternMaster, but it's narrower and has two functional edges with no cutouts. I have the imperial version and it includes the commonly used 1/4", 1/2" and 5/8" seam allowances along the full length of the curve. Along the straight edge it incorporates a 1" deep and 16" long ruler with grid markings, which I find more accurate to use than the lined ruler on the PatternMaster. The only drawback for me is the construction. It's made from 1.5mm plastic and is somewhat flexible. This means it survives the occasional fall from my overloaded bookcase without shattering or chipping, but it does feel a little flimsy to hold and use.
Do I need a special French Curve for plus-size sewing?
The answer is, it depends. At the time of writing this blog there are no specialized French Curve rulers for plus-size pattern making. However, this type of ruler does come in different sizes. The PatternMaster and Sew Easy Classic French Curve Rulers are both about a third larger than the Multipurpose 4 in 1 Curve Ruler. This makes them easier to use for drawing smooth curves on larger pattern pieces without having to constantly lift and reposition the ruler, but their shape is not specific to one size of human. Instead of thinking of the curve as a single shape, think of it as a range of shapes contained in one essential tool. This will become second nature as you get used to using a curved ruler, as you will become accustomed to choosing a section of the curve that best fits your pattern, drawing part of your line, then sliding the ruler along and matching the next part of the curve.
The Sew Easy range of clear rulers all come with instructions printed on the packaging. (And the new Dritz range has instructions printed directly on the ruler.) They show how to use a specific section of the ruler to achieve a specific fitting adjustment. This is handy to have in your sewing toolkit, but in practice the adjustments you make will be far more intuitive. Use the packaging as guides that demonstrate the versatility of this handy tool, rather than as an instruction manual. There will be nobody watching over your shoulder as you sew, so use these tools in the way that feels right to you and do what works best for you and your sewing projects.
LOOKING FOR GIFT IDEAS FOR PLUS-SIZE SEWISTS? You’ll want to add this kit from Dritz to your list.