An Introduction to Body Types and What Patterns to Choose

There are 5 different body types that are most common. There is the triangle shape, inverted triangle, which is an upside down triangle, rectangle, hourglass, and round. Below is a chart showing how these shapes look.

Body type can make so much difference in how a certain pattern will look on you.

First of all, love your body type! When you can love your body type then sewing and adjusting patterns become more enjoyable and rewarding.

Below is a description of each body type and suggestions on which eCreate Stitches patterns to try for each type.

Triangle body type- Hips are wider than shoulders and bust, waist is defined and narrower than hips.

What to wear- Create balance to your figure by wearing dresses that enhance the upper body. Examples are The Abigail Dress, The Rachel Dress, and The Bethany Dress. These dress patterns have A-line or flared skirts which will look great!

Hourglass body type- Bust and hips are about equal width, waist is well defined, described as curvy.

What to wear- Since your figure is well balanced your style can be more flexible. Dresses with an empire waist such as The Daphne Dress or The Elizabeth Dress look good on you as well as waist-defined dresses and dresses with belts such as The Susannah Dress or a midriff like The Carlee Dress.

Inverted Triangle body type- Shoulders and bust are wider than hips, waist, and hips are close in width.

What to wear-Create balance to your figure by wearing dresses that have plainer bodices with fitted sleeves and a circle skirt such as The Erynn Dress and skirts that are A-line or flared like The Maria Dress or The Dana Dress.

Oval body type- Bust and hips are about equal width and the waist is undefined, described as curvy.

What to wear-Wear dresses with an empire waist like The Daphne Dress or The Elizabeth Dress. Another style would be The Bethany Dress or similar that would create a defined waistline.

Wearing belts at a high waist also looks great.

Rectangle body type-Bust, waist, and hips that are about equal width.

What to wear- Create balance by wearing dresses that define the waist. This would be dresses with belts, elastic or midriffs as well as dresses that have a waist seam. Examples are The Dana Dress, The Susannah Dress and The Carlee Dress.

Below is a handy body type calculator to put in your measurements and learn your body type.

Knowing your body type can help so much in knowing where to make changes to your dress patterns.

For example, I thought I was a rectangle body type, but once I put my measurements into the body type calculator I found I was a triangle body type.

My measurements do fall into size L on the pattern measurement chart but the skirts were not always fitting how I liked. Now that I know I am a triangle shape I am going to go up a size at the hips and I know I will be much happier with the fit of my dresses.

It's important to Learn your body type!