Need help measuring for your Ready-Made Robe, Cassock, Dress or Shirt?

(For CUSTOM robe measuring information, please see Robe FAQ- measuring)

Save yourself time and hassle by ordering the correct sizes. You will have correctly fitting garments if you provide ACCURATE measurements. Please don't "pad" them to make sure it is big enough. No flexible cloth tape measure? Set out your stiff measuring device such as a metal hardware tape locked in the extended position, yardstick, etc. Use string, yarn, thread, etc., pinch the key point and lay it down on the measuring device to get the exact measure.

The key measurements (in inches) you need for determining size are:

1) Total height with the shoes on you would wear in the garment. Feet/inches please, such as 5'6".

2) Chest measurement- This should be at the fullest part of the chest, under the arms. Make a circle all the way around and note where the tape meets. Record in even inches, round up.

3) Sleeve measurement (corresponds to a man's shirt sleeve size) Qwick-Ship CHOIR ROBES and BAPTISMAL GOWNS do not need a sleeve measurement, but other Qwick Ship garments are helped by an ACCURATE measure. This is the classic tailoring measurement which can be a little tricky if you are unfamiliar. Please see the diagram (left) as a reference. If you know your exact shirt sleeve length, you may use this size, however today many shirts are tailored to a 34"-35" length, which is not adequate for OUR sizing. To measure sleeve length, bend the arm at the elbow and hold arm out in front, parallel to the floor as if looking at a watch. Then, measure from the center back of the neck at the base of the neck, over the top of the shoulder, around the bent elbow, and down to the wristbone. Record this measurement, rounding up to the nearest full inch. Do not round down.

4) Extra for LADIES' DRESSES, SKIRTS, CASSOCKS: Hip at the largest point

5) Extra for SHIRTS, SHIRTFRONTS: Neck measurement- Wrap a tape measure around the base of the neck allowing enough room for comfortable singing, preaching, or normal head and neck movement. This measurement should correspond to a shirt collar size, (for example 15, or 16). Round this measurement up to the nearest half inch. Do not round down.

6) Extra for CINCTURES: Waist over clothes measurement- Wrap a tape measure around the fullest part of the stomach over the clothing & belt which will be worn under the cassock.

How to make a quick wall chart for easy height measuring for a group

Take a piece a paper and cut in half the long way. Tape these to make a double long skinny paper. Starting at the bottom, mark every inch using a ruler or measuring tape. For adults, 5 feet will be the page bottom edge, for children it can be 3 or 4 feet depending on the age of the group. Number the marks going up the page, the first mark is 1, the 12th mark is 6 feet (or 4 or 5 feet for children), then start over with 1, 2, 3 up to 6'6" or the height of your tallest person. Tape this chart to the wall, carefully placing the bottom edge at the 5 foot mark from the floor (or 3-4 ft). Use a clipboard to keep your measurement list, and also place on the head of each person being measured in front of the chart. Keep it in place while they move away and record the height, adding an extra inch or 2 if they are wearing shoes shorter than the ones worn with the robe.