Why keep talking about body type anyway?

But do you know what your body type is?

I always thought I knew what my body type was...until I put my measurements into a body type calculator.

And I found out I was wrong. Quite wrong. Rectangles and triangles don't look alike.

So, that made sense why my dresses were not turning out so well. Mainly that my skirts didn't really fit so well around my hips.

That means that knowing your body type can answer some questions on fit you've always had.

It can point you in the right direction when it comes to altering patterns.

And it can help you in making pattern choices.

Clarity on fit

Hey, fit is a big deal! And understanding fit can be rather mind boggling.

When I found out what body type I really was, I realized why my dresses didn't always turn out.

In my case, I never thought to make any adjustments to the hip area of my skirt pattern until I realized I was a triangle shape instead of rectangle.

What a difference it made! And now I don't sew a dress without altering the skirt pattern to give plenty of room in the hips.

Think about this a little.

Say you want to cover an armchair with a new cover. You can't just go find an armchair cover pattern, sew it up and it fits.

Every armchair is different. The come in different sizes, different shapes, some short, some wide. Just like people! 😊

Then in that case you need to find a pattern that fits your particular armchair.

And the same goes for sewing a dress for yourself.

Knowing your body type gives you a clearer idea of what shape you are sewing for.

In the case of the arm chair cover, you could just get a big piece of fabric, throw it on the chair and tuck it in here and there and the chair would be covered.

But that’s not what you want, you want a chair cover that fits your chair.

And you want a dress that fits you.

Pattern design choice

Now, have been times that you have sewn a dress and something just looked a little off even if the dress more or less fit?

Did you wonder what was wrong?

It wasn't you or how you sewed it.

Pattern designs truly look different on different body types. Design makes a difference.

So what you want to do is to create balance to your body type in the dress design.

Since a triangle shape is larger at the bottom, a pattern that adds detail to the top of the triangle will create that balance.

For example, a design that has more detail on the bodice like a crossover bodice or some other detail will help to create balance to the triangle.

Or, an inverted triangle with the wider part at the top would need less detail in the bodice but then a wide flowy skirt to create balance.

Once you know what body type you are then you can search for patterns that create balance for you.

Likewise, you know what pattern designs to steer away from because you know that they won't create balance for you.

Making pattern adjustments

Like I said before, once I knew my body type I knew that I would always need to make adjustments to the skirt.

This can work the same for you. Pattern adjustments are no fun but if you know at least the main areas that you need to adjust that will take you a lot farther than just guessing.

And choosing the size or sizes you are going to use on a new pattern is a little easier because of knowing your body type.

Since most patterns are designed for a rectangle body type, if you are one of the other body types you know that adjustments are going to be necessary.

Even just the knowledge that patterns are made for rectangle shapes helps to know what you are working with.

Conclusion

You don't have to find out your body type if you don't want to. But it just may give you a bit of clarity on why your dresses fit the way they do.

And who doesn't like a bit of help knowing what pattern designs to try? Knowing your body type will help!

Plus it will point you in the right direction when it's time to alter a new pattern...or make a current one fit just a bit better.

What do you think? Does knowing your body type make a difference?

You can write your answer below! 😊