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Sewlore Measurement Interchange 0.1.0

A small local Python tool for exchanging numeric individual measurements between CSV, SeamlyME .smis and legacy .vit files. It provides explicit per-row units when importing a CSV, preserves measurement identifiers, and lets you choose whether to carry personal metadata into a new file.

This is an independent Sewlore helper, not an official Seamly product. It does not replace SeamlyME's built-in CSV export or evaluate pattern formulas. All examples are synthetic; no person's body measurements or fitting results were collected.

Supported formats

File	Root	Schema version	Output unit spelling
Current SeamlyME `.smis`	`smis`	`0.3.4`	`mm`, `cm`, `inch`
Legacy `.vit`	`vit`	`0.3.3`	`mm`, `cm`, `inch`

CSV uses mm, cm or in (inch is accepted when importing). Later Valentina/Tape formats and multisize .vst/.smms files are outside this release. Names are limited to ASCII letters, digits and underscores, beginning with a letter or underscore; this covers the sample identifiers but does not claim to cover every identifier allowed by Seamly's broader XML schema.

Run locally

Python 3.10 or newer is sufficient. The tool uses only Python's standard library and makes no network requests.

python sewlore_measurements.py to-csv examples/synthetic.smis measurements-mm.csv --unit mm
python sewlore_measurements.py from-csv examples/mixed-units.csv measurements.smis --unit cm
python sewlore_measurements.py from-csv measurements-mm.csv legacy-copy.vit --format vit --unit cm

Outputs must be new filenames. Input files and existing output files are never overwritten.

CSV layout

The required columns are name,value,unit; optional columns are full_name,description. Column order may change, but duplicate or unknown column names fail validation.

name,value,unit,full_name,description
bust_circ,840,mm,Bust circumference,Synthetic example only
waist_circ,26,in,Waist circumference,Synthetic example only
hip_circ,96,cm,Hip circumference,Synthetic example only

The resulting centimetre values are 84, 66.04 and 96. Conversion uses decimal factors: 1 cm = 10 mm and 1 in = 25.4 mm. Up to 15 significant digits are written; a decimal centimetre-to-inch-to-centimetre roundtrip can therefore differ at insignificant trailing digits. Do not infer measurement accuracy from the number of printed digits.

Do not rename identifiers merely to make their labels prettier. A pattern refers to identifiers such as bust_circ; full_name is only a human-readable label. Each identifier must occur once. Review the list in SeamlyME before linking it to a pattern, and ensure every measurement actually required by that pattern is present.

Formula values are rejected

Seamly files can contain formulas. A value such as bust_circ / 2 is not a numeric literal. The tool stops with a named error rather than guessing a value or multiplying a formula by a unit factor. Calculate and export values through SeamlyME when you need its formula engine. Do not replace a formula with a numeric value unless that is your deliberate editing choice.

Zero and negative numeric offsets are supported. This does not mean a negative circumference is physically meaningful. The tool validates representation and conversion, not the suitability of body measurements for drafting or fit.

Metadata and privacy

An ordinary CSV export includes names, values, units and labels; it omits the original personal section, notes and pattern-system metadata. Re-importing without a template creates an empty personal section, gender=unknown, a schema-required placeholder birth date (1800-01-01) and pm_system=998.

To preserve your own original personal information, notes and system code in a local roundtrip, use an editable original as a template:

python sewlore_measurements.py from-csv edited.csv edited-copy.smis --unit cm --template original.smis

That option deliberately copies the original personal metadata. Keep the result private if it contains identifying data. A template marked read-only is rejected. The measurement list is replaced by the complete CSV list, so partial CSVs remove measurements absent from the CSV; keep an original backup.

The parser rejects XML DTD/entity declarations, unexpected sections, duplicate measurement names and unsupported formats. Spreadsheet-active labels beginning with =, +, -, @ or a tab are rejected during export rather than silently changing the label. CSV and XML inputs have a 4 MiB limit and a 10,000-measurement limit.

Verification and limits

The development checks cover unit pairs, mixed units, CLI roundtrips, XML escaping, metadata choices, existing-file protection, read-only templates, malformed CSV, duplicates and formula rejection. Generated .vit and .smis examples validate against the official upstream 0.3.3 and 0.3.4 XSDs. The public package contains independent code and synthetic examples, not copied upstream schema files.

Native interactive SeamlyME opening/saving has not been tested in this environment. Schema validation and CLI tests do not establish that a particular pattern will draft or fit successfully. Open a copy in your installed SeamlyME, check the measurements, and save it before attaching it to a pattern.

Sources and licence

Copyright (c) 2026 Sewlore. Independent helper code, documentation and synthetic examples: MIT. AI assisted in drafting and implementation; functionality was checked with automated tests. No Seamly endorsement is implied.