What changed,
what is broken,
what is next

FixedSubscriptions were not being activated

Until 2 August, a subscription could be paid for and the app would still show Free. The purchase went through at Apple, but our server could not confirm it, so nothing was unlocked. If you subscribed and the app still showed Free, this was why.

This is fixed. Open the app, go to Settings and use Restore Purchases, and your subscription will apply. You were not charged twice, and nothing was lost. If it still does not appear, email us and we will sort it out directly.

FixedThe app and this website could disagree on trouser yardage

A correction to the way trouser legs are laid out reached this website before it reached the app, so for a few weeks the same measurements could give a higher trouser figure in the app than on the site, and the same for any suit that includes trousers. The difference was largest at bigger sizes and could reach roughly a yard.

This is fixed. Version 1.3.0 carries the rebuilt engine, so the app and this website now run the same calculation and give the same answer. If the app has not updated itself, update it from the App Store.

OpenYardage can jump between two neighbouring sizes

Cloth is bought by length, and length is decided by how many pattern pieces fit side by side across the width. When one size fits an extra piece across and the next size does not, that piece has to start a new row, and a row costs its full height rather than the inch that pushed it over. So the figure can step up sharply between two sizes that are almost the same.

The worst case we know of is trousers on 54 inch cloth, between 44R and 45R. This is a real cost rather than a rounding error, but it does mean a figure can look surprising next to the size below it. If you are close to a step, order the higher of the two.

OpenPublished guide figures cover a standard size range only

The tables in the fabric guide and the yardage chart are sizes 36R to 44R in regular length. They are a guide to order against, not a promise for every body. For a long, short or fuller cut, run the actual measurements through the calculator instead of adding a margin to a published number.

NowDrafting the pattern pieces properly

Cloth is worked out by laying the actual pattern pieces on the width and measuring how far down the roll they reach. That makes the shape of each piece a calculation input rather than a picture — and our shapes are still approximations, drawn to look like a forepart or a sleeve rather than drafted like one.

So each garment is being drafted from the tailoring literature instead, from the same construction points a cutter would use, and checked against published trade cutting plans from the 1930s — real lays, with the length each one took on a stated width. That is the only outside ground truth there is for this.

Nothing changes in the calculator until every garment is drafted. Early results say a truer outline does not automatically mean a truer yardage — the drafted pieces are smaller but nest worse, and switching over halfway would trade one kind of wrong for another. It goes in as one change, once it is demonstrably better than what is there now.

The choice between Either Way and One Way cloth arrives with it. Velvet, corduroy, moleskin, brushed flannel and directional prints have to be cut with every piece the same way up, which costs more cloth; everything else can be nested head to toe and costs less. The calculator currently assumes the cheaper answer for everything, so if you are cutting a napped or directional cloth, add to what it tells you.

AppAn Android version

The app now builds and runs on Android for the first time. Whether it goes to the Play Store, and when, is still an open question. It is not far off in engineering terms and further off in paperwork terms.

AppAppointments and reminders

Fittings booked against a client, with reminders. The thinking is that the app should be a full tailor's kit rather than only a yardage calculator, and scheduling is the piece we keep coming back to. Nothing is built yet.