The tape measure

The tape measure is one of the instruments for measuring the human body.

It is the most commonly used measuring instrument both in taking measurements and in making garments, whether handmade or industrial.

Description

They are made of plasticized fabric or are only made of plastic.

They are flexible and adapt to both body shapes and work mannequins.

Plasticized cloth tape measures are preferable to plastic ones because they are more resistant, especially to stretching.

It is important to store them in such a way that they be not subject to tension so that they do not stretch. It is better not to hang them and above all not to roll them on themselves as in the first picture of the post.

When they have been used for a long time we will have to control with a ruler that they continue giving the exact measure, in the case that they have been stretched they will have to be changed.

Those that are regulated in centimeters have a length of 150 cm; there are tape measures that are marked in inches.

In the case of Anglo-Saxon ones, they generally measure 60 inches, which is equivalent to 152 centimeters.

They are marked on both sides. One side is usually yellow. The second side can be white or multicolored.  Italian and French tape measures often use the colors of their flags to subdivide the length of the tape measure into decimeters.

Some of them measure 152 centimeters and carry both the metric system and the Anglo-Saxon system of inches. One on each side.

It has two metal stops, one at each end.

The stop hole of the tape measures

Measuring tapes with pierced tops are much more useful.

The hole in the tip is used to place the tip of a pencil and with the help of a punch that we will support in the center of the tape we will improvise a compass whose radius can reach up to 149 cm.

The holes are placed at half width of the tape and at half centimeter from the edge or point 0.

If we use the tape as a compass, we must increase the desired measure for the radius by 0.5 cm.

 

Triple tape measure

Some tailors use three tape measures to take some measurements. For example the armhole length.

To do this they will put three tapes together through the hole in their stops. Remember that the measurements of each tape measure will be 0.5 cm less than what we read.

Go to the instruments page to measuring tools.