Our tape measure is strangely one of the most precious items in our daily kit: along with cellphone, wallet and keys, it gets deposited and retrieved on our landing strip, and we feel somehow unprepared for the day without it. But on the rare occasions when we do forget it, or in situations where it would be somehow gauche to bust it out, we rely on a few handy tricks.
The key to measuring without a standard instrument is knowing in advance the length of, ahem, certain body parts (okay, no naughtiness intended) and very common everyday items.
- Your hand — measure from the line at the base of your wrist to the tip of your middle finger. This is helpful for measuring larger surfaces you touch with your hands, like tables and cushions.
- Your pinkie finger — though not the longest, this finger is handiest because it's on the outside of your hand and has a clear start and end, unlike thumbs.
- Your stride — for measuring room lengths. When measuring your stride in advance, lay a measuring tape on the floor and have someone else watch you walk at a normal, natural pace. You might have to do it a few times to make sure you're not changing your gait wildly each time.
- Your foot — with this one it helps to know your European shoe size: 35 = 9', 40 = 10" and 45 = 11". This is more accurate but more time consuming than using your stride to measure a space, as you must walk toe to the heel of your next foot.
- Your height — we have compelled a perfectly 6' tall person to lay on the floor to get a room dimension before, but it's not necessary to go to that trouble. The distance between your fingertips with your arms stretched to the sides is roughly the same as your height.
- A dollar bill — is exactly six inches long and 2.5 inches tall, and can be folded to get the smaller measurements within those.
- A piece of standard paper — paper, such as that you'd use in a printer, is 8.5" x 11". But make sure the piece you're using is American standard, or that you know its specific measurements if not.
While handy, these tricks aren't enough to make us ditch our trusty sidekick (the Komelon SELFLock is our favorite — it automatically sticks where you extend it, and you use the button to unlock it, instead of vice-versa) on a daily basis. But they do keep us from panic when we forget it.
Image: akhater
When I worked retail, I always appreciated the folks who brought their own tape measures into the stores (but not the fabric ones) because it meant they were serious about making a purchase...
...but even if you don't remember one - the good stores/salespeople will always have one at their desk or behind the counter.
view bepsf's profile
its when people have a scale and don't know how to use one is what scares me.
view LoriSF's profile
Pretty handy! :)
Ashley
rainycitystyle.blogspot.com
view RainyCityStyle's profile
This is a great idea! My mother used to measure everything with her hands, she said most people's hands are about 8" across. This is probably not true though..
Claudia Brown
patternpeople.blogspot.com
view patternperson's profile
I love my Komelon too. It's printed with measurements on both sides - one horizontally, the other vertically (great for measuring the height of things with out having to bend to the side to read the tape). And for people like me who are not quick on the simple math, it's also printed with both feet and inches at every inch mark. Love it!
view LilyC's profile
My mom always estimates yards of fabric by putting one end at the tip of her nose and the stretching the fabric across the length from there to her finger tip. It totally works, you just need to do with a tape measure a couple of times to figure out how far to stretch your arms/turn your head to one side.
view cola's profile
This is so cool.
view ebrown's profile
the dollar bill is a new one for me! that is great, I've learned my thing for today....now i can go back to sleep! LOL
I'm an architect so i carry a tiny tape measure in my purse as well as a scale, i have no shame i bust 'em out whenever measurements are in doubt as i'm a lazy bum and i hate returning things that don't fit and/or returning to the store to by more...
view larchgirl's profile
I just measured my hand! 8 inches across!
view jlg's profile
Checks (from your checkbook) are also exactly 6 inches wide.
view antimatt's profile
does anyone find it strange that the european shoe sizes end up being nice even inches...? Just curious.
view kvh's profile
I use wingspan and letter-size paper methods all the time. Nice tips!
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view manys's profile
i am likin the dollar bill idea
view wampler's profile
While I realise this might seem a little odd, I have used a standard DVD case as a measuring instrument before when our measuring tapes have all gone AWOL. I was having custom bookshelves made (my dad is a woodworker) and to get the height correct we ended up using a DVD case. It was great because everyone has a standard DVD case somewhere. The result - a perfect fit.
view NireeK's profile