Where's your waist?
This question has been asked of me constantly, as ladies are trying to measure themselves for a custom fit suit. Mostly we would run into issues when I asked for the torso length measurement. They want to know how to do that, and I usually explain and send them an example photo of someone taking that measurement. They're not my photos so I didn't feel like I should post them on my blog. I needed one of my own, so I took some, and had my sis-in-law help me with one of the pics. (As she so nicely decided to drop by as I was trying to take pictures of myself!!)
I don't like stressing over whether or not the bodice is going to be the wrong length! Like if I'm not totally sure they measured right, and that scares me to death! I mean, if its wrong, then I make the suit wrong!! I was struggling with this most recently when someone gave me their torso/body length and it seemed short to me. I wondered if she knew where she was supposed to measure to? But I've also wondered about this myself...how do you know where your waist is exactly? Don't laugh. I know I should know things like this! The style in question was the Ice Skater Suit, and that style sits a little below what I consider to be my waist. This I knew. But I didn't really grasp where the natural waist was... Always when reading pattern measurements, the waist seemed rather tiny. And I would always think... were people just smaller in yesteryear, and they never changed the average size chart? No, all of that is wrong thinking. And its wrong because the waist is not where we think it is!
I have learned (from other expert seamstresses, and pattern designers) that the waist measurement on a pattern, is your Natural Waist. Well, where is your natural waist? Who decides that? Actually, I'm not exactly sure who decides it... but that's besides the point. I'm here to tell you where your natural waist is, where the suit sits in relation to the natural waist, and how to get your torso length measurement! So..
Here are some pictures to give example...
This is my own strange way of showing where your waist is... Yes, that's me with tapes and elastic around my waist, looking in the mirror, trying to take a clear picture! Hahaha :-) Yes, I am quite silly.
Your low waist, as I call it, is right around your belly button area, or perhaps below it... its right about where your hipbones start, and before the back of you starts to curve out towards your bottom. Low waist/high hip area.
This shows how your natural waist is the point at which you crease when you bend...
So to get the measurements, you take a tape from the nape of your neck, down to your natural waist, and your low waist. You see how I am very long bodied? My natural waist is about 17.5", and my low waist is about 20". This is because I'm fairly tall at 5'10.5" and my length is in my body, not in my legs!
Now about finding the nape of the neck.. there's a little vertebrae that sticks out a little further than the rest, and you can go by that. Or some people say a good way to find the nape of the neck, is to wear a necklace, and where it lays is the nape of the neck.
Hopefully I covered everything, and not more than once. I was like really sure I'd put some info in here but then couldn't find it.. so I put it in (again?) Anyway. I hope this blog article is helpful!! Thanks for reading!
I don't like stressing over whether or not the bodice is going to be the wrong length! Like if I'm not totally sure they measured right, and that scares me to death! I mean, if its wrong, then I make the suit wrong!! I was struggling with this most recently when someone gave me their torso/body length and it seemed short to me. I wondered if she knew where she was supposed to measure to? But I've also wondered about this myself...how do you know where your waist is exactly? Don't laugh. I know I should know things like this! The style in question was the Ice Skater Suit, and that style sits a little below what I consider to be my waist. This I knew. But I didn't really grasp where the natural waist was... Always when reading pattern measurements, the waist seemed rather tiny. And I would always think... were people just smaller in yesteryear, and they never changed the average size chart? No, all of that is wrong thinking. And its wrong because the waist is not where we think it is!
I have learned (from other expert seamstresses, and pattern designers) that the waist measurement on a pattern, is your Natural Waist. Well, where is your natural waist? Who decides that? Actually, I'm not exactly sure who decides it... but that's besides the point. I'm here to tell you where your natural waist is, where the suit sits in relation to the natural waist, and how to get your torso length measurement! So..
"Your natural waist is your smallest part, it is also where you crease when you bend.
It is not where folks today would wear their pants, that's for sure!"
Here are some pictures to give example...
This is my own strange way of showing where your waist is... Yes, that's me with tapes and elastic around my waist, looking in the mirror, trying to take a clear picture! Hahaha :-) Yes, I am quite silly.
Your low waist, as I call it, is right around your belly button area, or perhaps below it... its right about where your hipbones start, and before the back of you starts to curve out towards your bottom. Low waist/high hip area.
This shows how your natural waist is the point at which you crease when you bend...
So to get the measurements, you take a tape from the nape of your neck, down to your natural waist, and your low waist. You see how I am very long bodied? My natural waist is about 17.5", and my low waist is about 20". This is because I'm fairly tall at 5'10.5" and my length is in my body, not in my legs!
Now about finding the nape of the neck.. there's a little vertebrae that sticks out a little further than the rest, and you can go by that. Or some people say a good way to find the nape of the neck, is to wear a necklace, and where it lays is the nape of the neck.
Hopefully I covered everything, and not more than once. I was like really sure I'd put some info in here but then couldn't find it.. so I put it in (again?) Anyway. I hope this blog article is helpful!! Thanks for reading!
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