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May 20, 2022
I absolutely love getting questions, suggestions and ideas from you all. Here's a question from one of my students:
What do I need to look out most for in an Apple/Rectangle figure shape?
The quick answer (but don't worry, I'll elaborate on this), is Don't try to get something that accentuates your waist.
OK so that sounds easy enough, but what about now, when we're having more emphasis on our waist rather than our hips? That's a great question, and you (as an Apple or Rectangle) may think you're just out of luck.Â
But here's the thing. With those Apple or Rectangle figures, there is always a dip right under the bust line. That's what you accentuate. And the truth is that a nip in the silhouette, dart, seams or whatever doesn't have to be that much to make it work.Â
It's all about that slight indentation or "dip".
Here is an excellent example. Which one is better?Â
 Here's what's going on. The view on the left has some mighty long legs and they are thin at the hip - so this makes the whole leg and hip silhouette look really great. That ever so slight dip right under the arm, just below the bust gives the perfect illusion of a waist-ish type
silhouette.
This is where the FBA is the Apple's and Rectangle's best friend. That FBA immediately takes in that bulk under the arm and gives a shape that Apples and Rectangles really need.Â
Apples and Rectangle have hips and legs that Hourglasses and Pears dream about, so this part of your body you really want to show off. White pants are dreamy on Apples and Rectangles.Â
The parts to show off are:
The parts to hide are:
Keep fitted (that means shaped to you - not skin tight) around the shoulders and bust.
Apples and Rectangles carry their weight above their hips and your stomachs and waists and chests. This is the part you want to hide. The very best way to hide that is to not fit under this part. The instant you have the silhouette (front, side, back), fitting under the large areas you are trying to hide, it accentuates that area. Â
 This is the major thing wrong with this silhouette here. When you change that silhouette (right), it immediately cures the big poofy
stomach/waist area.
Here is the reason that not fitting around the under bust, upper waist area is bad. This top falls straight from the arm hole, and then flares out. Apples and Rectangles should never do this. Where are the hips here?...they are hidden by the flare at the hem. The hips are one of the clear assets of an Apple/Rectangle figure. Where's the smallest nip right below the bust giving the illusion of a waist?...it's hidden with the straight drop from the underarm.  This model almost looks preggie! Yikes!
 
Here is a classic Rectangle/Apple shape - Princess Diana. On the left is a wow, perfect silhouette for this figure, while on the right is the wrap around the waist, which is not big, nor will ever be, accentuating one of the worst parts of the Apple/Rectangle body shape.Â
So what does this mean when you are doing variations on the Apple/Rectangle shape?Â
This means that you must fit and shape closely, but not too tight around the shoulders, chest and right below the bust area. This means FBAs and sometimes princess seams that will allow you to shape elegantly around this area.Â
But let's have some more fun because as an Hourglass/Pear shape, I would die for those hips on the Rectangle/Apple figures! But alas, I don't have that, so I have to go another route.
 
Looking more closely at this version and there are several things wrong.Â
The very first is that the top is too short. This causes the eye to not only see the silhouette from above the apex point of the hips/fanny but also below that point. This is a huge no-no. It accentuates the hips and fanny, which do NOT need any more attention!
Here is the Hourglass & Pear shape done correctly. There are a few techniques used here that really help this figure look good. I use the in almost every garment I make. The result - most folks think I haven't gained any weight since I was about 30 y/o! Uhhhh - yeah - right! That is so far from the truth it's shocking, but that's what paying attention to your assets and hiding your liabilities will do for you.
Here there's the slight nip at the waist which is a cinch to do on these figure shapes. But what's important here is to not make the waist as tight as it can be. Moderating the line from the waist to the hip makes it look more normal and therefore keeps your hips from looking too large.Â
The other thing I like to do is a modified shirt-tail hem, where the sides are a little shorter than the back. Also please notice the silhouette of the pants here as compared to the one above where the hips are hit at just the right point - at the apex point - where the hips stick out the most, and then that silhouette below that is modified so it's not so curvy.
Hopefully this helps all figure types, and of course if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me back just by answering this email.Â
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ZOOM for May, 2022
So let's do another Zoom - for Wednesday, May 25th and here's the clock so everyone can see what time is theirs.
Email me back LINK FOR ZOOM in the title and I'll send you the link. I'm going to talk about some more variations, more into dart rotations, and also some ideas of what you can do with dart rotations to make them even more spectacular.Â
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This is a beginning guide on what to do with your core pattern after you have fitted and worked on it.
All the work that you have done in your core pattern contains all the information to make a garment that you will totally love. This means you really don't have to buy another pattern for making skirts, pants or leggings. Variations on your core pattern makes it possible for you to have the styles you see in a photo or on Pinterest without having to look for the pattern that looks like it might work. You can now simply trace it onto your core pattern and
you're done.
This resource also contains some other important resources at huge discount because they are so important to this creative process of varying your core pattern. It also contains some downloads that aren't available in the Resource Library at all, but are vital toward making good design.
In this world of crazy, illogical fashion, we sewists are having to turn into designers. That sounds really hard and foreboding, but it's not. Unlike designers, we simply haven't had all the experience they have, most of that experience they got when they went to design school. More than anything I wanted to make this process encouraging, empowering and enlightening without having to worry about whether or not you could vary your core pattern.
You can! It isn't that hard. It is knowing some guidelines and charging out into the unknown. That's what we sewists do and we do it very well most of the time.
This is the beginning of the series into variations on core patterns. I wanted to start with something basic, so that you wouldn't feel so intimidated. It takes a while to write these up, cause I'm an idea factory, and coordinating and organizing these ideas can be monumental with the sewing muse yacking in my ear 24/7.
The resource is available now at a discount so that you can enjoy it before spring starts in full force. Right now, I'm thinking happy, colorful and pretty. Those are all fresh looks for future clothes. When things seem upside down, it's great to have something to make us happy and often bright, springtime and summertime fabrics are just as much as drab, dark and somber fabrics. I'm ready to be beautiful, comfortable and look flattering in my clothes and
I'm dying to share that with you.Â
Skirts, Core Pattern Variations, Part 1 (but there's more than skirts in here)
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